With slew of stakes wins, Sadler amid 'dream meeting' at Del Mar
The self-described “dream meeting” continues for trainer John Sadler.
The victory by Shenandoah Queen in Friday evening’s Tranquility Lake was the sixth stakes win of the meeting for Sadler. It moved him within two of his personal record for stakes victories in a meeting, established in 2008, and forged a tie with his second-most stakes-productive summer here in 2013.
Had Bob Baffert not saddled 13 stakes winners in 2000 – which might be the Del Mar record counterpart to Joe Dimaggio’s 56-game hitting streak – Sadler might be considered a threat to the all-time mark.
He will send out Catalina Cruiser, the 8-5 morning line favorite, in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes and has True Royalty (10-1) for Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes. Meet-leading rider Drayden Van Dyke, who has combined with Sadler for three stakes victories already, rides both Catalina Cruiser and True Royalty.
There are nine stakes races in the final, six-day week of the meet which starts on Wednesday. Sadler said he’ll possibly be represented in four.
“So I can’t make it (record),” Sadler said, “but it has been a great meet. Hopefully we can be strong today and then we’ll look forward to the Futurity the last day (with Sigalert).”
In the Tranquility Lake, Shenandoah Queen took command after three quarters and drew off under Tyler Baze to win the one-mile test for fillies and mares by 8 ½ lengths.
“I think I should just save her for that race,” Sadler said. “She won it two years in a row and didn’t win in between. It was a nice win for her.”
Shenandoah Queen, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Henny Hughes owned by Hronis Racing, took the 2017 Tranquility Lake by three-quarters of a length under Victor Espinoza, was 0-for-8 since then but had been competing against the likes of Unique Bella and Fault in graded stakes on several of those occasions.
Sadler’s representative for the Torrey Pines, at one mile over the main track for 3-year-old fillies, is True Royalty. The Florida-bred daughter of Yes It’s True has only been off the board once in six starts with two wins.
“She broke her maiden here last year and was third in her prep (for the Torrey Pines, July 29) over the course,” Sadler pointed out. “She’s got a little bit difficult of a post (far outside No. 11), but she’s training just super.”
The field from the rail: Royal Descendent (Tiago Pereira, 12-1), Thirteen Squared (Joe Talamo, 3-1), Spring Lily (Gary Stevens, 8-1), Lemoona (Flavien Prat, 7-2), Well Hello (Mike Smith, 10-1), Zusha (Stewart Elliott, 15-1), Aunt Lubie (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Wicked Storm (Geovanni Franco, 20-1), Just Grazed Me (Tyler Baze, 5-2), Broome (Evin Roman, 20-1) and True Royalty (Drayden Van Dyke, 10-1).