John Sadler

The GII San Felipe S. last its headliner with the scratch of the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos (Nyquist), but Baffert still dominated the race with stablemates Imagination (Into Mischief) and Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso) running in tandem for much of the 1 1/16 miles and in lockstep down the stretch before Imagination just got his nose in front on the wire Sunday at Santa Anita. Of his one-two finish in the San Felipe, Baffert said, "We're trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine...

Slider (Jimmy Creed), third last out in the GII San Vincente S. to Nysos (Nyquist), will miss Saturday's Gotham S. at Aqueduct with a bruised left front foot, according to part-owners Rob Murphy and West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley. Murphy, one of the West Point Partners, said that Slider had shipped to New York on Tuesday to prepare for the race, but came up with the issue Friday morning. Finley, a partner in the horse, said that X-rays of Slider's foot and ankle had come up negative. Slider broke his...

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg})--both in their first year of eligibility--head a list of nine racehorses, six trainers and two jockeys who were named as finalists on this year's Hall of Fame ballot by the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee Tuesday morning. Also on the ballot are: 2010 champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision), eight-time Grade I winner Game on Dude (Awesome Again), three-time Eclipse champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), 2011...

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....

Thoroughbred trainers Dale Romans, John Sadler and Shug McGaughey, plus racing and bloodstock manager Gavin Murphy, have joined the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)'s Horsemen's Advisory Group, the HISA  Authority announced via press release Tuesday. The advisory group is a body of racing industry participants formed by  the HISA Authority last year to provide formal feedback to the Authority 's executive team and Standing Committees on the implementation and evolution of its Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) regulations. The four new members will replace outgoing Horsemen's...

When Olivier (Tapit) worked a half-mile in :49.80 last week at Oaklawn Park for trainer Rodolphe Brisset there was nothing special about the breeze. It was the 45th best work at the distance out of 137 horses who went the half-mile. But it was a step in the right direction, albeit a small one, for a soon-to-be 4-year-old who can't seem to get on the right path. Barring a setback, he should make his debut some time early next year at Oaklawn. Might he finally be ready to turn things...

ARCADIA, CA - With a trio of longshot chances entered in this weekend's Breeders' Cup, trainer John Sadler found a quiet spot on the apron to watch his 9:00 a.m. set train at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning. It was a very different scene ahead of last year's Championships as the 67-year-old put the finishing touches on the once-in-a-lifetime Flightline (Tapit), who concluded his brilliant career unbeaten from six starts with a performance for the ages in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. How's life after Flightline treating you...

9th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 8:11 p.m. ET. The rail-drawn URBAN LEGEND (Into Mischief) is one of three Bob Baffert trainees to debut in the Santa Anita finale. Out of MSW Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat), the bay colt went for $300,000 at Keeneland September before bringing $1.3 million at the OBS April Sale. He is campaigned by Morplay Racing LLC, Rosedown Racing Stables, LLC and Kerri Radcliffe. The Hall of Fame conditioner will also saddle Nysos (Nyquist), who was purchased by Baoma Corp. for $550,000 at OBS April, and...

Under the toughest of spotlights, the industry's collective eyes often turn to the stuff under foot. At least, that's what trainer Mark Casse did in a widely-shared TDN Q&A. "I think we really, seriously, need to look at more synthetic tracks," Casse said, triggering yet another cavalcade of commentary on the conceived benefits and blights of synthetic surfaces. "I believe in them. I believe they've got plenty of data to back that up." Former TDN writer Lucas Marquardt followed it up with an analysis of race-day fatality data through The...

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...

by Dan Ross & Jill Williams A $250,000 colt by late California sire Vronsky led Tuesday's one-session Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings and Horses of Racing Age Sale, topping a dozen lots to sell for six figures. While the $5,751,500 gross for 185 head and $15,000 median (-11.76%) declined somewhat from the 2022 edition, average was up slightly from $30,522 in 2022 to $31,089 (+1.86%) this year. The buy-back rate, 25.7% in 2022, rose to 34%. "Buy-backs may be up a little bit," said Fasig-Tipton's California representative Mike Machowsky. "But the...

Mike Talla and West Point Thoroughbreds partnered up to acquire a colt by Not This Time (hip 879) for $1.05 million from the St George Sales consignment Thursday at Keeneland. The yearling is out of Foreign Affair (Exchange Rate), a half-sister to multiple group winner So Perfect (Scat Daddy). He will be trained by John Sadler, who stood alongside West Point's Terry Finley during the bidding. The colt was the fourth seven-figure purchase of the auction for West Point, which teamed with Chuck Sonson and Woodford to acquire the sale's...