By Steve Sherack
DEL MAR, CA – With the sun setting on another Breeders' Cup weekend, it was a familiar sight with the dark green silks of Hronis Racing being carried home to victory in the finale.
Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast), drawn on the inside in post three, stalked and pounced his way to a 1 1/2-length victory over Post Time (Frosted) in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. It was another 2 1/4 lengths back to favored Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in third.
Hronis and Sadler, of course, closed out the 2018 and 2022 Championships in style with wins by Accelerate and Flightline in in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The $7-million centerpiece was run four races earlier on the program this year.
“We were quite nervous at the draw,” Sadler said. “We know you need a good draw, especially at Del Mar. This is one of my home tracks and I hold a lot of records here–most stakes wins, etc. When we were hanging out there at the draw and there were a couple posts left and one was the 14 and one was the three, I was thrilled to get the post three. From there on out, we got a really good ride from Joel (Rosario). He's my home boy. We've been together for a long time.”
Full Serrano, off at odds of 13-1, jumped well beneath Rosario and raced in the garden spot behind 77-1 longshot T O Saint Denis (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in second through fractions of :22.30 and :45.47. He set his sights on the leader at the top of the stretch, set sail for home from there and was never seriously threatened by the runner-up, who rallied smartly from last of 13.
A listed stakes winner last year in Argentina and graded placed there this January for former trainer Diego Pena, Full Serrano was purchased privately and made his first start for his new connections a winning one in a course-and-distance optional claimer at Del Mar Aug. 3. He finished a fantastic second and earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure after setting a fast pace in the GI Pacific Classic going 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar last time Aug. 31. He was forced to sit out the GI California Crown at Santa Anita Sept. 28 after spiking a fever.
“This horse came to me and has done well since we've had him here,” Sadler said. “Unfortunately, he got a little sick when we went back to Santa Anita, so he didn't get a run in the prep. He might have been in the Classic, had he not got a little temperature.”
Sadler continued, “I'd like to, if it works well, run in the Pegasus and then look possibly at the Middle East for this horse.”
As for the private purchase of Full Serrano, Hronis added, “We're always in the market for the long dirt races here for the California circuit. We're always shopping. I don't really get to do the shopping. I just follow John around. I have the basket, he puts the stuff in, I go to the register. That's my involvement (laughter).”
Pedigree Notes:
Full Mast, who captured the 2014 G1 Grand Criterium at Longchamp as a homebred for Juddmonte, stands at Haras Gran Muñeca in Argentina. By Juddmonte's pensioned Mizzen Mast, he is out of Juddmonte's GISW Yashmak (Danzig), in turn a daughter of Juddmonte's 1997 Broodmare of the Year Slightly Dangerous. Sire of 2023 Argentinean champion 2-year-old filly Tan Gritona (Arg), Full Mast has 11 black-type winners and five graded/group winners. Full Serrano, a member of his second crop, is his first stakes winner outside of South America.
The unraced Serra Do Mar (Arg), dam of Full Serrano, is a daughter of Jump Start, who also sired her full-sister Seresta (Arg), the 2015 champion 2-year-old filly in Argentina and the dam of 2023 Japanese GSW and three-time G1-placed Harper (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}). Jump Start, who had shuttled to Argentina for five seasons, died in 2019 at age 20 in Pennsylvania due to complications from colitis. The A.P. Indy stallion has 32 stakes winners to date out of his daughters. Serra Do Mar produced a full-sister to the Dirt Mile winner in 2022. The unraced filly is named Full Service (Arg). —Jill Williams
Saturday, Del Mar
BIG ASS FANS BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE-GI, $920,000, Del Mar, 11-2, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.48, ft.
1–FULL SERRANO (ARG), 126, h, 5, by Full Mast
1st Dam: Serra Do Mar (Arg), by Jump Start
2nd Dam: Serata, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Maliziosa, by Dynaformer
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Hronis Racing LLC; B-Stud Haras Gran Muneca S. A. (ARG); T-John W. Sadler; J-Joel Rosario. $520,000. Lifetime Record: SW-Arg, 17-6-5-2, $797,223. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Post Time, 126, c, 4, Frosted–Vielsalm, by Fairbanks. ($85,000 Ylg '21 EASOCT). O-Hillwood Stable LLC; B-Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman & Milton P Higgins III (MD); T-Brittany T. Russell. $170,000.
3–Domestic Product, 123, c, 3, Practical Joke–Goods and Services, by Paynter. O/B-Klaravich Stables (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $90,000.
Margins: 1HF, 2 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 13.40, 7.80, 3.00.
Also Ran: Tumbarumba, Katonah, Skippylongstocking, Muth, Seize the Grey, T O Saint Denis (Jpn), Cagliostro, Mufasa (Chi), Three Technique, Saudi Crown. Scratched: Pipeline.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
It's FULL SERRANO's G1 Dirt Mile! 💚
Trainer @johnwsadler with another big #BreedersCup winner! #BC24
pic.twitter.com/a0UnBCYc0q— World Horse Racing (@WHR) November 3, 2024
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