Sadler sends out a Square Eddie against type

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer John Sadler was only half-joking about his filly Delta Wind, a bred-for-turf sprinter who might be one of a kind.

“I have the only Square Eddie that does not want to sprint on grass,” Sadler said.

Thankfully for Sadler and owner-breeder Hronis Racing, it is a different story on dirt, the surface on which Delta Wind runs Friday at Santa Anita. Based on her runaway maiden win on dirt, Delta Wind looks tough in a filly-mare sprint that is the first of two California-bred allowance races in which Sadler starts the clear-cut favorite.

Delta Wind runs six furlongs in race 6; Dendera will be strongly backed in race 7, a turf mile for 2-year-old fillies. For bettors, the Sadler-trainee dilemma is clear – take the short price on likely winners, back higher-odds runners likely to fall short, or pass.

As for Delta Wind, Sadler does not plan to run on turf anytime soon. Her disdain for the footing is odd, because her pedigree suggests otherwise. She is sired by Square Eddie, whose progeny generally relish turf. Her dam, Caitie’s Secret, won two races, both on turf, and her two best foals preferred turf. Delta Wind should love grass.

“She hates the grass,” Sadler said, noting her sixth-place debut as the favorite.

Blame it on inexperience. But after a pair of runner-up finishes on dirt, Sadler tried Delta Wind on grass again with a similar result. She broke slowly and finished fifth.

“Twice,” Sadler stated regarding her turf races. “She does not like it. She wants to sprint on dirt.”

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Does she ever. Delta Wind switched to dirt for her fifth start and crushed maidens by more than 11 lengths at Del Mar. She was on her way. Then, a hiccup. A day before her next scheduled start Sept. 26 at Los Alamitos, she grabbed a quarter and scratched.

The setback was minor. Delta Wind resumed workouts days after the scratch and enters Friday as simply the fastest in the allowance field. Joe Bravo rides Delta Wind, whose chief rivals include late-runner Smoothlikebuttah and front-runner Rain Diva. Other entrants are Tiz a Master, So Very Smart, and Westward Breeze.

Race-7 favorite Dendera is the antithesis of her stablemate. Sired by Shaman Ghost, Dendera split the field in her dirt-sprint debut, then switched to turf and stretched to a mile for her second start. She improved a ton.

Dendera drilled California-bred maidens by more than four lengths and followed with a respectable fifth in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Friday at Santa Anita, Dendera drops into a statebred allowance, reunites with Flavien Prat, and clearly is the one to beat. Slam dunk? Maybe not.

Rose Maddox overcame a slow start and wide trip to win a Golden Gate synthetic-surface sprint first out for trainer Steve Miyadi. Sired by Grazen and produced by a stakes-placed turf mare, Rose Maddox goes long on turf Friday as the main rival for Dendera. Endless Thirst, Maggie Fitzgerald, and Distorted Diva also entered.