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‘You’ve Got To Run When You’re Ready’: Higher Power Takes On Maximum Security In San Diego

Trainer John Sadler has saddled the winner of the last three runnings of the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. A fourth would appear to be a tough task considering the intimidating record and presence of rival Maximum Security.

But Sadler, and his major client Hronis Racing, are hardly ones to be intimidated. And there's recent history on their side.

“Maximum Security is one of the best horses in the world,” Sadler said. “But you've got to run when you're ready, and we're ready right now.”

Sadler has entered TVG Pacific Classic defending champion Higher Power for the Grade II $150,000 San Diego, a 1 1/16-mile main track event that is the primary stepping stone to the Classic. His 5 ¼-length convincing Pacific Classic victory was the highlight of a 2019 campaign as a 4-year-old in which the son of Medaglia d'Oro won three times and compiled earnings of more than $1.2 million for Hronis.

Higher Power opened 2020 with a last-place finish of 10 as the favorite in the Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park, then went unraced until a runner-up finish, beaten 3 ¼ lengths by Improbable, in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 6 at Santa Anita.

“We were very happy with it,” Sadler said. “It was a very good second, coming as it did off a really extended layoff because of travel and COVID. We brought him down here where he's run well before and plan to run him twice – the San Diego and the Pacific Classic.”

Sadler and Hronis also have Combatant, a 5-year-old son of Scat Daddy who is also entered in Sunday's Grade II, $200,000 Eddie Read Stakes on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Combatant won the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on March 7 in his second start for Sadler after previously being based in the Midwest with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. A venture to Hot Springs, Ark., in May for the Oaklawn Handicap produced only an 11th place finish in a field of 13. Combatant, generally a come-from-behind type, has four wins from 25 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,033,998. One victory, and $294,740 in earnings, came from turf races.

“He got cut off and generally had a bad trip at Oaklawn, so we've given him time off,” Sadler said. “Even if I go with him on the grass instead of the San Diego he's still a candidate for the Pacific Classic.”

Catalina Cruiser secured victories in the San Diego Handicap for Sadler, carrying Hronis colors, in 2018-19. In 2017 eventual champion Accelerate did the honors. Accelerate's victory was over the Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate, then the No. 1 ranked horse in the world. Arrogate finished fourth, beaten 15 lengths. Baffert will saddle Maximum Security on Saturday.

The San Diego Handicap, planned for July 18, was rescheduled a week later due to COVID-19 and post positions were re-drawn. It made no difference for Higher Power.

“They drew the race twice and I got the rail both times,” Sadler said. “The post is not my favorite, but we'll live with it.”

The field from the rail: Higher Power (Flavien Prat); Ax Man (Mike Smith); Sharp Samurai (Jorge Velez); Combatant (Drayden Van Dyke); Maximum Security (Abel Cedillo), and Midcourt (Victor Espinoza).

Prat's agent, Derek Lawson, was asked how he felt about going up against Maximum Security with Higher Power. “The same as I felt going up against Maximum Security with Country House in the Kentucky Derby,” Prat said.

Racing fans know how that turned out.

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Maximum Security Makes Belated California Debut in San Diego H.

Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) makes his first start for trainer Bob Baffert and first since the federal indictment of former trainer Jason Servis in Saturday’s rescheduled GII San Diego H. at Del Mar.

The homebred was a two-time Grade I winner during his championship campaign in 2019, taking the GI Florida Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. around his disqualification from an apparent victory in the GI Kentucky Derby. He proved his versatility and did what no other horse of his generation could at the tail end of the campaign, defeating elders in the GIII Bold Ruler H. over seven furlongs and the GI Cigar Mile H. last December. Connections elected to pass on the GI Pegasus World Cup in favor of the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup Feb. 29, where he gamely held off Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). With regular rider Luis Saez unable to leave Saratoga, Maximum Security–the 127-pound highweight–gets the services of Abel Cedillo.

Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro) is in receipt of five pounds from the favorite and looks to take his record to a perfect two-for-two at Del Mar. After fetching $250,000 from Hronis Racing during the horses-of-racing-age section of the 2019 Keeneland April sale, the bay romped in the GI Pacific Classic before rounding out the triple in the GI Awesome Again S. and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Racing without Lasix as the 14-5 chalk in the Pegasus, he finished a tailed-off 10th, but bounced back with a strong runner-up effort to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Improbable (City Zip) in the June 6 GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

Combatant (Scat Daddy) won four races and was multiple graded-placed for Steve Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton before being acquired by Hronis for $220,000 at KEENOV last fall. Third to Midcourt (Midnight Lute) in the GII San Pasqul S. Feb. 1, he was the narrow winner of the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 7 and a latest 10th in the GII Oaklawn H. He is cross-entered for Sunday’s GII Eddie Read S. on the turf.

The post Maximum Security Makes Belated California Debut in San Diego H. appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Weekend Lineup: Enable, Maximum Security Return To Racing

TVG will be live on site at Del Mar covering a loaded weekend of racing featuring seven stakes races from Friday through Sunday including the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap, which will feature 2019 Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security in his first start since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

On Saturday morning, international racing fans can also tune into TVG to watch champion Enable (GB) make a bid for a historic third win in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes from Ascot. The race is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET. The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is part of the “Win and You're In” Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

TVG will also be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park and more all weekend.

Saratoga Live, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning television program, will feature more than 210 hours of live programming from Saratoga, which runs through September 7. Saratoga Live will appear each racing day beginning at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports and MSG Networks and offer full-card coverage of a Saratoga meet offering. The daily schedule can be found at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

Friday July 24

5:46 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

A field of eight sophomore colts will assemble for the 11th running of the Quick Call going 5 ½ furlongs over the Mellon turf. Trainer Doug O'Neill will send out three-time stakes winner Fore Left for as he searches for his first triumph on grass. The bay son of Twirling Candy last raced when finishing a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes to Tiz the Law, which came after a victory in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Fore Left has recorded one start over grass, which came in the Grade 3 Cecil DeMille on December 1 at Del Mar at the distance of one mile.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072420USA9-EQB.html

Saturday July 25

2:03 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

A key prep on the road to this year's Queen's Plate, the 1 1/16-mile main track Marine has attracted some noteworthy Canadian-breds hoping for a spot in the Plate starting gate. John Oxley's homebred Lucky Curlin chases his second straight win, this time in the Marine, after a sharp score on June 14 at Woodbine. The Mark Casse trainee, in his ninth career start and first test on the Toronto oval Tapeta, rallied from fifth at the stretch call of the seven-furlong race to win by a length under Kazushi Kimura.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072520CAN3-EQB.html

2:18 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

Champion Sistercharlie (IRE) will kick off her 2020 campaign in the 32nd running of the Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf course. Trained by Chad Brown and owned by Peter Brant, Sistercharlie has put together a sensational record that includes seven Grade 1 triumphs while boasting $3,662,003 in lifetime earnings. In 2018, the daughter of Myboycharlie (IRE) earned the Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Female after winning all four of her Grade 1 efforts that year. She has not raced since November, finishing third to Iridessa (IRE) in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072520USA3-EQB.html

4:53 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Selene Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Ten Broeck Farm's Owlette, a bay daughter of Frac Daddy, goes after her fourth Woodbine stakes crown in the Selene. The Wesley Ward trainee took last year's Shady Well and Victorian Queen, and then added another stakes title to her record with a win in this year's Star Shoot on June 13. Owlette will be tested by six other rivals, including the Casse trio of American Tap, Diamond Sparkles, and Two Sixty.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072520CAN8-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Six-time graded stakes-winner Whitmore will return to historic Saratoga Race Course for the first time since winning the 2018 Grade 1 Forego when the veteran son of Pleasantly Perfect looks to notch his third consecutive victory in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt on Saturday. Whitmore enters the Vanderbilt off back-to-back wins in the Hot Springs – which he captured for the fourth consecutive time – and a three-quarter length score last out in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint in April at Oaklawn Park. Among those he will face is Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, who has four wins in his last five starts dating to November.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072520USA10-EQB.html

9 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

The likely favorite in the $150,000 San Clemente is Gary Barber's Laura's Light, a bay daughter of Constitution who has won four of her six lifetime starts and comes into the turf test off a tally in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30. Laura's Light's chief rivals appear to be a pair of stakes winners in Benjamin and Sally Warren's Warren's Showtime, who'll be handled by regular rider Jorge Velez, and the Florida shipper Cheermeister, who is owned by Teresa and David Palmer and gets the saddle services of Victor Espinoza.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072520USA9-EQB.html

9:30 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

The presence of champion Maximum Security didn't deter the connections of six other horses from entering for the 79th running of the 1 1/16-mile main track event that has often served as a stepping stone to the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Maximum Security, a 4-year-old son of New Year's Day, enters the race with eight wins in 10 starts and earnings of $11.8 million dollars. Last year the bay colt was first under the wire before becoming the first disqualification in Kentucky Derby history, but posted three subsequent wins to secure the Eclipse Award as 3-year-old champion. In his only 2020 start, Maximum Security won the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup on February 29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072520USA10-EQB.html

Sunday July 26

4:23 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Seagram Cup Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes winner Skywire, runner-up Avie's Flatter, and third-place finisher Mr Ritz will reunite when they square off in Sunday's Seagram Cup Stakes. Trainer Josie Carroll will look to win her second straight Seagram crown when she sends out a pair of multiple stakes winners in Avie's Flatter and Mr Ritz, who took last year's running of the 1 1/16-mile main track race for three-year-olds and upward. The graded stakes victors meet up again with four-year-old Skywire, the Mark Casse trainee who pulled off a 17-1 upset in the Eclipse on July 4 at Woodbine.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO072620CAN7-EQB.html

5:46 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

Harrell Ventures' two-time stakes winner Halladay has done nothing but improve in his last two starts and will attempt to maintain his good form when taking on five others, including four stakes winners, in Sunday's 61st running of the Bernard Baruch for 3-year-olds and upward over the inner turf. Trained by Todd Pletcher, who saddled Dominus to a Bernard Baruch score in 2012, Halladay arrives at Sunday's test off a gate-to-wire triumph in the Sunshine Forever over a firm turf at Gulfstream Park, where he registered a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure over eventual Grade 1-winner Aquaphobia and stablemate Social Paranoia, who won the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont Park two starts later.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR072620USA9-EQB.html

8:30 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

Multiple graded stakes winner United aims to keep his recent hot streak going when he heads up a field of seven entered in the Eddie Read Stakes going 1 1/8-miles on the turf. Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, United is 2-for-2 thus far in 2020 having earned victories in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes and the Grade 2 Charlie Whittingham Stakes. The Giant's Causeway gelding has not been worse than third in his last seven starts and fell just a head short of eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR072620USA8-EQB.html

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TVG’s Weekend Coverage Features Racing From Ascot, Del Mar

On Saturday morning, international racing fans can tune into TVG, America's horse racing network, to watch champion Enable (GB) make a bid for a historic third win in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes (GI) from Ascot. The race is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET/7:35 a.m. PT.

TVG's Scott Hazelton will be covering the race live from his home in Kentucky. The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes (GI) is part of the “Win and You're In” Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf (GI). The 2020 Breeders' Cup will be held November 6-7 at Keeneland. Enable (GB), the heroine of the 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf (GI), won this race in 2017 and 2019. Trained by John Gosden with regular rider Frankie Dettori in the irons, the six-year-old mare is set to face three rivals from trainer Aidan O'Brien including multiple Group 1 winner Japan (GB).

TVG will be live on site at Del Mar covering a loaded weekend of racing featuring seven stakes races from Friday through Sunday including the $150,000 San Diego Handicap (GII), the $150,000 San Clemente Stakes (GII) and the $200,000 Eddie Read Stakes (GII). There will be expert analysis and exclusive interviews from Todd Schrupp, Mike Joyce and Joaquin Jamie alongside Britney Eurton and Simon Bray who will be contributing to the broadcast remotely. Del Mar has also added a card on Monday, July 27.

The San Diego Handicap (GII) will feature the return of 2019 Eclipse Award winner Maximum Security. The multiple Grade 1 winner will be making his first start since transferring to trainer Bob Baffert and will have Abel Cedillo in the irons for the first time. Maximum Security will face five rivals, including the 2019 TVG Pacific Classic (GI) champion Higher Power, in the 1 1/16 mile contest which is being used as a prep race for the $500,000 TVG Pacific Classic (GI) on August 22.

TVG will also be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park and more all weekend.

The post TVG’s Weekend Coverage Features Racing From Ascot, Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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