Catalina Cruiser – Photo by Ernie Belmonte
Hronis Racing’s Catalina Cruiser broke alertly from the gate, went straight to the lead and never looked back, showing the way through easy splits of :24.52, :48.94, 1:13.04 and 1:37.71 under Joel Rosario before drawing off to win by a length in Saturday’s $196,000 San Diego Handicap (GII) at Del Mar. Under little more than a hand ride, the John Sadler trainee cruised to the win over a fast track and stopped the Teletimer in 1:44.20. “I’m sure glad to be here today and especially to ride a nice horse like this,” Rosario said. Bred in Kentucky by W.S. Farish, Catalina Cruiser was a $370,000 yearling purchase out of the Lane’s End consignment at Keeneland with Martin Anthony singing the sales ticket. The son of Union Rags has now won six of seven races, including the two San Diegos, the 2018 Pat O’ Brien Stakes (GII) and the True North Stakes (GII) at Belmont Park. His only loss was a sixth-place finish in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) at Churchill Downs as the 4-5 favorite. Overall he’s earned $571,100. “The objective of the other jockeys was obviously to press the pace,” Sadler said. “But he was running smooth all the way. When you’re 1-9 there’s a lot of conversation about style points and things like that, but he was comfortable all the way. The fractions were slow, but this is not a fast track. We’ll check the speed figures and things like that and we’ll see how he comes out of it and decide whether to run in the Pacific Classic or not. We’ve got options.
Congrats @johnwsadler @sadlerracing @JRosario_Fan @hronisracing ?#SanDiegoH #SanDiegoHandicap #DelMar #DelMarRacing #CatalinaCruiser pic.twitter.com/eUl20kp2kL
— US Racing (@USRacingToday) July 20, 2019
