Trainer John Sadler will send out defending champion Galilean in Sunday's featured $150,000 California Dreamin' Stakes and has a three-horse contingent in the $80,000 Daisycutter Handicap earlier in the program at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.
At the very least, Sadler's charges figure to factor strongly in both events as the 64-year-old Pasadena native seeks to add to his 78 Del Mar stakes victories, second on the track's all-time list behind Bob Baffert.
Galilean, a 5-year-old son of Uncle Mo owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and partners, moved between rivals to get a clear lead entering the stretch and held on for a half-length victory as the 3-2 favorite in last year's California Dreamin', a 1 1/16-mile turf assignment for California breds. It was the fourth start in a seven-race 2020 campaign that has netted earnings of $217,098.
Sunday's title defense, however, is the 2021 debut for Galilean, ending an eight-month layoff since finishing fourth as the favorite in the Cary Grant Stakes in November during Del Mar's Bing Crosby fall meeting.
“It's a little different this year coming off a layoff, but he's a very good horse, doing well, and we're expecting good things,” Sadler said.
The field from the rail with riders and morning line odds: Desmond Doss (Abel Cedillo, 5-1); Wound Tight (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Unbridled Ethos (Ricky Gonzalez, 20-1); Secret Club (Tyler Baze, 30-1); Indian Peak (Flavien Prat, 8-1); Ward 'n Jerry (Trevor McCarthy, 8-1); Galilean (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Margot's Boy (Juan Hernandez, 12-1); Brandothebartender (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1) and North County Guy (Mario Gutierrez, 7-2).
In the Daisycutter, a five-furlong turf sprint for older California-bred fillies and mares, Sadler will saddle Constantia, Five Pics Please, and Bruja Escarlata for three different ownerships.
Constantia, bred and owned by Keith Abrahams, comes in off a win in the Mizdirection overnight and runner-up in the Grade 2 Monrovia, both at Santa Anita. Five Pics Please, owned by Desert Sun Stables, has a win, a second, and a third in three starts since joining the Sadler stable for her 2021 campaign.
Bruja Escarlata, which translates from Spanish as “Scarlet Witch,” is owned by Hronis Racing. The 4-year-old daughter of Street Boss, a $185,000 purchase at a Florida sale in 2019, debuted with a victory at Los Alamitos in December and followed with wins on the turf at Santa Anita in February and the dirt there in March.
“Two of the fillies (Five Pics Please and Bruja Escarlata) are pretty fast and the other is a deep closer,” Sadler pointed out. “I think they all fit pretty well in there.”
The field from the rail with riders and morning line odds: Bulletproof One (Gonzalez, 4-1); Querelle (Hernandez, 6-1); Gypsy Spirit (Edwin Maldonado, 20-1); Constantia (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 6-1); Superstition (Prat, 5-2); Lenzi's Lucky Lady (Desormeaux, 20-1); Five Pics Please (Rispoli, 15-1); Never for Money (Giovanni Franco, 20-1); Rakassah (Jessica Pyfer, 6-1) and Bruja Escarlata (Baze, 4-1). Also eligible: Sadie Bluegrass (Brayan Pena, 15-1) and Acting Out (Bravo, 15-1).
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