Hronis Racing

For the second year in a row, jockey Juan Hernandez has won both the summer and fall riding titles at Del Mar. However, unlike past title runs, he had to rally from behind late in the season to win the Bing Crosby Season title with 21 wins. Hernandez trailed both Antonio Fresu and Umberto Rispoli through much of the fall. But he got hot in the second-to-last week, winning five races and grabbing the lead. He then secured the title with another eight victories in the final week including five...

In the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup, the potential in the older horse division has shifted so that the next big-breakout, classic-distance stars might very well rise in the West. While it's true that divisional kingpins like 'TDN Rising Stars' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Fierceness (City of Light), and Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), plus GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents), will be plotting 2025 campaigns from training bases farther east, those headline horses will go into their 4-year-old seasons with lofty expectations based on already-established, champion-level accomplishments. But a...

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...

GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender 'TDN Rising Star' GISW Newgate (Into Mischief), along with three other horses pre-entered in this weekend's championships at Del Mar, worked Sunday morning at Santa Anita. Firing his second bullet in a row going five furlongs, this time in :58.80, the Bob Baffert-trainee shared the top ranking on the morning with John Sadler runner GSP-Arg & GISP Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast). In the Classic, Newgate will be making his second start since returning from a six-month layoff after a ninth-place finish in the G1...

Hronis Racing's Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast), most recently second in the GI FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic, worked five furlongs in :59.80 (3/32) at Santa Anita Monday. Trainer John Sadler said the 5-year-old is targeting the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, rather than the 1 1/4-miles GI Breeders' Cup Classic. "He got sick and missed some time when he came back up from Del Mar," Sadler said Monday. "He wasn't able to run in the [Sept. 28] California Crown and I'm not sure if he'd be ready to go a...

8th-Los Alamitos, $43,000, Msw, 6-30, 2yo, f, 5f, :57.48, ft, 1 3/4 lengths A. Z. WILDCAT (f, 2, Munnings--Lucky Long, by Lookin At Lucky) prevailed in a good pari-mutuel battle and then backed it up on the track in professional style to open her account as the narrow 2-1 favorite. The $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase brike a bit inward, but was up to press the early issue before sitting the pocket trip from third around the hairpin turn. Produced three wide into the stretch, the filly went to the...

Being a half-brother to undefeated Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit, Horse of the Year, Ch. Older Dirt Male, MGISW, $4,514,800), the expectations were naturally high and the pressure certainly on, and Hronis Racing, Summer Wind Equine and William S. Farish's Eagles Flight (c, 3, Curlin--Feathered, by Indian Charlie) proved equal to the task, overcoming something of a tricky trip to join Flightline as 'TDN Rising Stars.' Beyond the obvious pedigree appeal, Eagles Flight had displayed plenty of ability in the mornings, with three consecutive black-letter works heading into the...

There are three graded stakes races on Monday's card at Santa Anita, but the most anticipated race of the day may be the eighth, a $54,000 maiden race run at six furlongs. That's because it features the debut of Eagles Flight (Curlin) a 3-year-old half-brother to Flightline (Tapit). Like Flightline, Eagles Flight is trained by John Sadler. "I am excited," Sadler said. "We've been working closely with him and he's showing good run and he's worked well in company. We've got 48 hours to go and we're anxious to get...

Juan Hernandez topped the riding standings and Doug O'Neill was the top trainer at Santa Anita's 46-day Classic Meet which concluded Sunday. For Hernandez, a 32-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico, this was his fifth riding title at Santa Anita. He finished with 53 wins from 245 mounts and also led all jockeys in earnings with $3,683,348. "I just want to say thank you to everybody for all the support," Hernandez said. "All the owners, trainers and all the people on the backside. The grooms, the gallop boys, because they do...

Hronis Racing's Tapalo (Tapiture), the El Camino Real Derby runner-up and a contender in Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby, leads a cast of nine 3-year-olds that were made eligible to compete in the 2024 Triple Crown with a late $6,000 payment that was due Monday. Trained by John Sadler, Tapalo is expected to enter Saturday's Santa Anita Derby. The nine late nominees (pending late mail): Hronis Racing's Tapalo; Tri Star Racing & Cimarron TTT's Awesome Ruta (Mendelssohn); Lewis Family Racing Stables' Celtic Contender (Irish War Cry); Ten Strike Racing, Four...

Hall Racing, Pearl Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds' Slider (Jimmy Creed) will ship east in search of additional qualifying Kentucky Derby points in Saturday's GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct. Winner of the Speakeasy S. over the turf at Santa Anita last October, Slider was ninth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He returned to the main track to be third in the Jan. 6 GII San Vicente S. last time out. Trained by John Sadler, Slider turned in bullet five-furlong work in :59.00 (1/121) at Santa Anita Sunday....

One of the biggest stories going into the 2018 Breeders' Cup was trainer John Sadler's 0-41 record on racing's championship day. Accelerate, whose five for six already on the year included four Grade Is in California, succinctly put all that babble to rest with his win in the biggest race on the card. "What stands out to me with Accelerate was the year he had that culminated in the Breeders' Cup Classic," said Sadler. "He won, what, four or five Grade Is that year. So, he had just a fabulous...