Gladding, Sadler win San Antonio at Santa Anita
February 6, 2011ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) - Four-year-old gelding Gladding won the $150,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday, completing a huge weekend for trainer John Sadler, who took home three major stakes.
Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Gladding went straight to the front of the field of six and never yielded, beating Spurrier and Joel Rosario by a length and covering 1 1-8 miles on dirt in 1:48 for his first stakes victory.
The favorite, Aggie Engineer, was coming off a three-race winning streak but finished a well-beaten third.
Gladding paid $5.20, $3.40 and $2.40. Spurrier returned $4.20 and $2.20. Aggie Engineer paid $2.10 to show.
On Saturday, Zasu's 3-year-old filly won the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes and his Star 4-year-old horse Twirling Candy, who Sadler called ``the best horse in the country,'' easily won the Strub Stakes and earned a spot as the likely favorite in the March 5 Santa Anita Handicap.
Gladding's Sunday win means Sadler will likely have two starters in that race.
``He's another option for the Big 'Cap,'' Sadler said of Gladding. ``If he's doing well, and he's ready, he'll probably go in there with the other horse.''
The Florida-bred Gladding more than doubled his earnings with the $90,000 first prize, taking his total to $161,825. He has won three times in nine starts.