John Sadler

Hronis Racing's Grade I-winning millionaire Gift Box (Twirling Candy--Special Me, by Unbridled's Song) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties in 2021 at Lane's End Farm. On the board in the GII Remsen S. as a juvenile and second in the Curlin S. at Saratoga as a sophomore, Gift Box joined the John Sadler barn in the second half of his 5-year-old season and immediately bested GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) in the GII San Antonio S. in December of...

In a settlement agreement and mutual release with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), leading California trainer John Sadler has been fined $15,000 and handed a 60-day suspension--45 days of which are stayed--for three medication violations dating from 2019. The suspension runs June 29 through June 13. As part of the agreement, Sadler has been placed on probation for one year, ending June 28, 2021. If he incurs any medication violations during that period, the 45 days of stayed suspension will be imposed following a noticed hearing. As first reported...

The late-blooming 5-year-old Midcourt (Midnight Lute) will look to record his first win at the highest level in Saturday's GI Hollywood Gold Cup. The authoritative 2019 GIII Native Diver S. and 2020 GII San Pasqual S. winner was a close third as the 3-5 favorite when last seen going this same 1 1/4-mile distance in the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 7. Trainer John Shirreffs takes off the blinkers for this. Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro), fifth in this race last year, broke through in a big way with a dominating...

3rd-SA, $55K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 5:05 p.m. ET Well-regarded first-time starters from the Bob Baffert and John Sadler barns highlight this turf sprint early on Friday's card at Santa Anita. J Z MY MAN (American Pharoah) commanded $410,000 at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream last spring following a :10 3/5 furlong breeze and has backed up that pricetag in the mornings for Baffert, showing a steady series of sharp works going back to late December capped by a best-of-219 bullet half in :47 3/5 Mar. 16 at Santa Anita. His dam, four-time...

John Sadler's chance at a record-setting third straight win in the GI Santa Anita H. looked imperiled when he had to scratch morning-line favorite Gift Box (Twirling Candy) Saturday morning, but the trainer was able to pick up the historic achievement when Combatant (Scat Daddy) came home first in the 1 1/4-mile race Saturday afternoon. "It was a great day; we were just thrilled," said Sadler, who also sent out Flagstaff (Speightstown) to take the GII San Carlos S. Saturday. "To win our third Big 'Cap in a row is...

Despite having to scratch defending champion and morning-line favorite Gift Box (Twirling Candy) due to filling in an ankle Saturday morning, trainer John Sadler and Hronis Racing still managed to score their third consecutive Big 'Cap victory with recent acquisition Combatant. Campaigned for his first 22 starts by trainer Steve Asmussen, Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing, Combatant hit the board in several preps for the 2018 GI Kentucky Derby before finishing 18th in the Run for the Roses. He tried turf with some success later that season, finishing a...

Hronis Racing's Gift Box (Twirling Candy), the 6-5 morning-line favorite and defending champion, has been scratched from Saturday's GI Santa Anita H. The 7-year-old had been expected to make his 2020 debut in the race. In his most recent start, he won his second straight GII San Antonio S. Dec. 28. Trainer John Sadler, looking to become the first trainer to win the Big 'Cap three years in a row, will still be represented in the race. He will saddle Combatant (Scat Daddy). With the scratch, the Big 'Cap, which...

Longtime California trainer Henry Moreno passed away Sunday at The Kensington care facility in Sierra Madre following a lengthy battle with dementia. He was 90. Moreno, who was born in Corona, grew up on his father's Quarter Horse ranch and began as a Quarter Horse trainer before switching to Thoroughbreds in the early 1960s. He conditioned Chilean import Tizna (Chi), who won the 1974 and 1974 renewals of the GI Santa Margarita Invitational H., as well as the 1975 GI Ladies H. He saddled Re Toss (Arg) to upset Eclipse...

The defections of two of favorites Omaha Beach (War Front) and Spun to Run (Hard Spun) saw Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. lose some of its star appeal, however, a solid group of graded stakes winners will try and collect the lion's share of the $3-million purse. Trainer John Sadler, who finished third in this race last season with 2018 Champion Older Horse Accelerate in 2019, offers the talented but at times unlucky Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro), who breaks from post 6. Knocking on the door to bigger...

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Speed Pass (Bodemeister), an open-lengths winner in two outings against lesser company at Los Alamitos, will get the acid test Saturday at Santa Anita in an evenly-matched renewal of the GII Palos Verdes S. Bought for $150,000 at Keeneland September in 2017, the dark bay didn't make his debut until Sept. 20 of his 3-year-old season, but rallied smartly up the rail to graduate at this trip. Catching a sealed track following a brief layoff Dec. 7, the gelding took a significant step...

Sixteen prominent Thoroughbred trainers have expressed their support for the Horseracing Integrity Act via an open letter "to the Thoroughbred Community" sent out Friday. The trainers who signed on are: Tom Albertrani, Christophe Clement, Ben Colebrook, Gary Contessa, Arnaud Delacour, Janet Elliott, Mark Hennig, Kiaran McLaughlin, Shug McGaughey, Ken McPeek, Tom Morley, Graham Motion, Todd Pletcher, John Sadler, George Weaver and Nick Zito. The letter reads: "Horse racing is at a pivotal moment in its long history in the United States. The past six months presented a string of events...

It was back in 1988 that John Sadler began his stake race winning spree at Del Mar, when the mild-mannered speedball Olympic Prospect took the then-$75,000 Bing Crosby H., prompting jockey Alex Solis afterwards to breathlessly exclaim, "I never rode a horse that fast in my life." When given this little factoid at his Del Mar barn one recent morning--a full 31 years after the event--Sadler assumed the look of someone who'd just been told that water wasn't wet. "I wouldn't think so--it's got to be before that," he said...