John Sadler

Top Associated Horses: Ranger Heartley, Crisp, Banner Lodge, Distorted Dave, Switch, Domonation

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2009 Record: (638-132-103-83)

2009 Earnings: $5,999,956

2009 Win %: 20% In-The-Money %: 49%

Born: July 30, 1956, Long Beach, Calif.
Residence: Pasadena, Calif.
Family: Single
Professional Background: Trains a large stable of about 90 horses split between Santa Anita and Hollywood Park
Racing Background: Rode show horses and, at one point, tried out for the U.S. Olympic equestrian team. He briefly returned to the show ring in the early 1990s as a hobby while also training racehorses ... Started working with Thoroughbreds while still in high school, hot walking for trainer Tom Pratt ... After leaving the University of Oregon, began his professional involvement in the sport as a veterinarian’s assistant to Dr. Jack Robbins, father of trainer Jay Robbins and Del Mar racing secretary Tom Robbins ... Sadler credits much of his ability to diagnose early problems to his time with Robbins ... Later served as an assistant to trainers David Hofmans and Eddie Gregson, for whom he over saw astring of horses in Northern California ... Following Gregson’s death, Sadler helped establish the Edwin Gregson Foundation, a college scholarship fund-raising organization to assist children of backstretch employees
Racing Career: Has vaulted to the top rung of the Southern California racing colony with training titles at the 2008 Oak Tree meet and 2008-09 Santa Anita meet after winning the 2007 autumn Hollywood Park and 2008 spring-summer Hollywood Park meets. He led trainers at Del Mar in 2008 and 2009 … His 2009 graded stakes winners include Alpha Kitten, Belmont Cat, Black Mamba, Evita Argentina, Noble Court and Oil Man ...Went on his own in 1979 and won his first stakes race that year with Top Taker at Golden Gate Fields ... Developed several major sprinters early in his career, including Breeders’ Cup runners Olympic Prospect (seventh, 1988 Sprint; fourth, 1989 Sprint), Track Gal (11th, 1995 Sprint; 10th 1997 Sprint) and Our New Recruit (12th, 2004 Sprint). He claimed Olympic Prospect for $50,000, and the gelding earned more than $300,000 the next year while becoming one of the country’s top sprinters ... Track Gal won three consecutive runnings of Del Mar’s Rancho Bernardo Handicap from 1995-97 ... Accomplished a career milestone at Hollywood Park June 28, 2008, when he notched a stakes triple with Whatsthescript in the G2 American Handicap, Dearest Trickski in the G2 A Gleam Handicap and Emmy Darling in the Landaluce Stakes ... On Aug. 29, 2009, at Del Mar, Sadler registered four winners to equal the Del Mar record for number of victories on one card. That tied him with R.H. (Red) McDaniel, Farrell Jones, Ron McAnally and Jack Van Berg ... Sadler captured his first million-dollar race when he sent Our New Recruit to Dubai to win the $2-million Golden Shaheen Stakes in 2004 ... One of Sadler’s biggest upsets came in the 2005 Sunshine Millions Classic with Musique Toujours, who paid $142.20 to win at Gulfstream Park. Other memorable stakes surprises included Taste of Paradise (34-1) in the 2003 G2 San Diego Handicap, Ceeband (45-1) in the 2001 G2 Triple Bend Handicap and Whatsthescript (29-1) in the 2008 G2 American Handicap ... Sadler won the first match race in Santa Anita history in 1991 when Valiant Pete defeated champion Quarter Horse Griswold in the $100,000 winner-take-all World Record Challenge. Valiant Pete equaled the world record of :44 2/5 for four furlongs ... Other career G1 stakes winners include Dearest Trickski, Healthy Addiction and Victory Encounter ... Sadler claimed both Victory Encounter and Dearest Trickski for owner Tom Mankiewicz for $32,000.
Breeding/Racing Operation: Among his leading clients in a large public stable are CRK Stable, brothers Gary and Cecil Barber, Jerry and Ann Moss, Jenny Craig, Halo Farms, Doubledown Stable, Ike and Dawn Thrash, Tommy Town Thoroughbreds and Tom Mankiewicz ... Sadler passed the $50-million mark in career earnings in 2008 ... Credited steady ascent to good help, headed by assistant Larry Benavidez, and good owners. Has taken special pride in stable’s consistency and ability to win races in virtually every division, from sprinters to routers, from horses on the main track to those on the turf, from 2-year-olds to older horses, males and females. “We continue to have promising 2-year-olds that we’re excited about,” Sadler said during 2009 Del Mar meet ... Sadler has served as a member of the board of directors of both the California Thoroughbred Trainers and the Thoroughbred Owners of California.