Baffert-Beater Accelerate Still Fighting to Get His Dues

Some sports stars wear their fame and legend like a second skin, familiar and comfortable–one gifted to them by a kind of divine birth-right. Tom Brady's five Super Bowl rings. Serena Williams' 23 Grand Slams. The trophies on the shelf speak not so much of human sweat and toil as of some rare and anointed stuff of the soul to which only they are privy.

Other successful athletes, however, must routinely deliver their pound of flesh to receive the accolades due them. Week in, week out, home runs are whacked out the park and three-pointers are dunked like clockwork. Next day, however, the headlines arrive with grudging praise. Job well done–but what if LeBron had been playing?

It would be fair to say that recent GI Pacific Classic S. winner Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) has long been relegated to the latter bunch–a horse who has strung together this year a remarkable series of knock-out performances, but who still is all too readily dismissed when talk turns to the nation's quickest and best.

“Probably a bit of a West Coast bias,” explained Accelerate's trainer, John Sadler, when I asked him why this is the case. “These California horses go everywhere and win. And if you look at the line for the [Breeders' Cup] Classic which they've just put out in Vegas this past week, who's the favorite?”

“Accelerate?”

“There you go,” Sadler replied, reclining in his chair, a look of professorial satisfaction crossing his face. “The people who know, they know.”

Right now, Sadler is putting what he knows to devastating effect.

He's been saddling runners at Del Mar since before Ronald Reagan was elected president. Over the years, he's put enough wins on the board to take third place on the all-time trainer list at Del Mar, behind Bob Baffert and Mike Mitchell. But Sadler–whose current hot streak makes King Midas look like Mr. Bean–regards this as his best summer yet in terms of the “type of races we've won.”

The GII Eddie Read S. The GII Del Mar Mile H. The GIII Torrey Pines S. The GII San Diego H. On and on and on. If Sadler switched carrots for tennis balls, he'd probably train the favorite for the U.S. Open right now.

Earlier this month, Sadler finally ticked off his bucket list the GI Pacific Classic, a race in which he's been cruelly denied before with the likes of Twirling Candy (head second to Acclamation in 2011), and Kettle Corn (more roundly beaten by Game on Dude in 2013).

“I really wanted to get that race,” said Sadler. “I like to win all the big races on our circuit. I don't think there's a big race in California that I haven't won. [The Pacific Classic] is another iconic race in California, and to get it under your belt is great.”

While last year, Lane's End-bound Accelerate was easily eclipsed in the Pacific Classic, this year he dominated, pouring on the lighter fluid around the home turn before scorching home 12 1/2 lengths clear of the rest.

“By every metric he was the best horse in the race,” stressed Sadler. “If you looked at the Beyers, weight, distance, we were expecting to win, but we weren't expecting to win by that much. Joe Harper says that's the largest win margin in Pacific Classic history.”

Yeah, Accelerate might have been expected to win, but there's no doubt the horse who has this year reigned California king supreme is bigger and better than 12 months ago.

“I'd say he's improved one to two seconds,” said Sadler. There were glimpses of this brilliance before. In last year's San Diego, he picked his opposition apart with ruthless efficiency. So, has Sadler done anything different this year to last?

“He's kind of a late foal, and he's just improved with age,” Sadler replied. “A lot of horses don't improve from four to five, but he has. He's just a very strong, mature horse at five. And he just continues to thrive.”

That said, the Sadler teams has also worked with Accelerate in the gates. “He got to where he wasn't breaking well. Now, he's breaking much better. We do a lot of schooling. It's not that he's a bad horse in the gate it's more that he just doesn't get the gate all the time.”

The GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last year can be seen as a turning point in Accelerate's career. Well fancied for the race, Accelerate beat one home, only for a quarter crack to emerge as the culprit. “Once we got his foot right, he's just had a great year,” said Sadler. This “great year” has included wins in the GI Santa Anita H. “Loved that,” he said. “He got a muddy track and showed that he can handle the off-track really well, in case we get the off-track in [the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs].”

Add to that a win in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita. “Victor [Espinoza] rode a beautiful race in the Gold Cup,” said Sadler. “He broke, put him out there a little bit, and that put the other horses on the bit. Then, Victor eased him back. That's what I'm talking about, about [Accelerate] being dynamic. It's what makes him so effective at that distance. He can lead if he wants, but he doesn't pull when he's in front. Doesn't use his energy.”

Accelerate is only one of three horses to have captured the Big Cap/Gold Cup/Pacific Classic trifecta–an achievement not lost on Kosta Hronis who, with brother Pete, owns Accelerate under their Hronis Racing banner. “Being California horse owners and being from California and being a fan of the tracks here, to win that California Triple Crown–wow,” he said. “We're still riding high on that wave, and I don't think we've come down yet.”

Riding high? Hronis Racing is surfing the crest right now. Accelerate is without doubt the stable's headline act, but the exciting Catalina Cruiser (Union Rags) is a worthy and starry-eyed understudy, the unbeaten 4-year-old having recently pulverized the field in the GII Pat O'Brien S.

“He just took time to mature,” explained Hronis, about their kids glove approach with the massive chestnut (according to Sadler, Catalina Cruiser weighed in after his first race this year a titan-like 1260 lbs). The two aren't scheduled to lock horns any time soon–Catalina Cruiser's Breeders' Cup assignment will be the Dirt Mile. According to Sadler, he'll go there without a prep. Sadler and Hronis both floated, however, a possible clash in the GI Pegasus World Cup, next January at Gulfstream Park.

“I guess it could happen if the two horses are in a condition to run and they're both ready to go,” Hronis said. “Whether we run one or the other or both, I guess that'll be a decision we make in January.”

Before then, Sadler has his sights set on the Breeders' Cup. The improving Catapult (Kitten's Joy) could go for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Selcourt (Tiz Wonderful), unbeaten in all three sprint starts this year, is being pointed towards the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. It's no wonder, then, that Sadler describes his 2018 Breeders' Cup squad as “our strongest team so far.” And the augurs look good that Sadler will finally land a first Breeders' Cup win. Does this glaring hole in his resume irk him?

“A lot of years we've had the best horses in California,” Sadler explained. “But, you know, we couldn't beat Goldikova (Ire) in the Breeders' Cup. You're in with the best of the best, so, if you run second or third, you really shouldn't be too hard on yourself. There were just some better than us.”

Which leads to an assumption about the Sadler horses–that they're lethal in California, but vulnerable when shipped out of state. “We've won in Dubai. We've won everywhere,” said Sadler, about that assessment. “We don't ship that much because if there's a good race in California, we prefer to stay home. The way my barn's going right now, I'm sure we're going to be doing more shipping in the future.”

Accelerate, however, will be staying home for his next assignment, the GI Awesome Again S. Should Accelerate win that and then the Classic, Sadler plays coy about the possibility of Horse of the Year honors. “I have bias, let's leave it at that,” he laughed. But there's no hiding his sense of satisfaction in developing a horse who embodies the same tough, grizzled qualities of former tough, grizzled California handicappers of yore.

“We call him the Baffert beater,” said Sadler, about the battalion of Baffert runners Accelerate has put to the sword this year, while betraying the friendly rivalry, “that's the way to describe it,” that he enjoys with his training nemesis.

But step back a moment, and there's much more to Sadler's observation–something intrinsic to both men. For Baffert is a magnetic media presence whose spotlight extends to the horses in his care. Just look at the star wattage of American Pharoah, Arrogate and Justify. Sadler, on the other hand, is a behind the scenes kind of guy, and as such, his horses aren't put on the promotional trail either. This means they're asked to generate their own headlines.

This means they're asked to routinely deliver that pound of flesh to receive the accolades due them.

“I don't do a lot of promotion, per se,” Sadler admitted. “We like to let the horses do the talking.”

What Accelerate has achieved this year speaks volumes.