DEL MAR >> When American country music artist Jerry Reed sang his hit single, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” in 1971, he might have had people like trainer John Sadler in mind.Right now, there’s no one hotter at Del Mar than Sadler, who celebrated his 63rd birthday two days early Sunday when he saddled Ollie’s Candy for a victory in the $300,000 Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares.
Del Mar has run 13 stakes races through the first 10 days of its 36-day summer meet, and Sadler’s won five of them. His victory in the Clement L. Hirsch made it a weekend sweep of Grade Is after he won Saturday’s Bing Crosby Stakes with Cistron.
Sadler took over training duties for Ollie’s Candy earlier this year after William Morey Jr. was issued a 45-day suspension (June 30-Aug. 13) by the California Horse Racing Board after it ruled that two horses in the trainer’s care were illegally given a race-day supplement.
Ollie’s Candy, a 4-year-old Candy Ride filly who’s named after owner Paul Eggert’s youngest daughter, looked like a beaten horse at the top of the stretch when 6-5 favorite Secret Spice loomed up on the outside and appeared ready to breeze by the pacesetter. Secret Spice actually put her head in front at one point in deep stretch.
But remember, when you’re hot, you’re hot, and Ollie’s Candy dug in along the inside under jockey Kent Desormeaux, battled back and defeated Secret Spice by a head to improve to 2-0 when racing over a dirt surface. Overall, she’s won four of eight and improved her career earnings to $452,151 with the first-place check of $180,000.
“That other mare (Secret Spice) got in front of us, but my mare is a fighter,” Desormeaux said. “She wants to win. John is on a roll. He just let me come along today.”
Eggert wasn’t so sure Sadler’s good fortune was going to hold up at the head of the stretch.
“I was sure Secret Spice was going right by, but she dug in, and had to dig in again, and then she was able to do it,” Eggert said of his filly, whose two other victories have come over Golden Gate Fields’ Tapeta synthetic surface in the first two starts of her career during the spring of 2018.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Eggert said. “John Sadler and his whole team have done an excellent job. She raced here a couple of times last summer and just missed winning a graded stakes (second in the San Clemente Stakes and Del Mar Oaks under Morey’s care). (Sadler) definitely had her ready this year.”
With his daughter Ollie standing next to him in the winner’s circle, Eggert told the story of how Ollie’s Candy was named.
“Over the years, we’d (he and his wife Karen) named a horse after the older two (children), and (Ollie) came along and it was time to name a horse after our youngest,” he said. “And we came up with Ollie’s Candy because she’s a Candy Ride (filly).”
Ollie’s Candy took the lead immediately out of the gate, carving out fractions of 23.05, 46.68 and 1:11.32 en route to a final time of 1:44.66 for the 1 1/16 miles. Secret Spice finished second by 5 1/4 lengths over La Force, who came in off an upset victory in the Grade II Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita on June 1.
Paradise Woods, the 8-5 second choice, made a big move approaching the final turn but flattened out in the stretch and finished a disappointing fourth in the six-horse field. She did become a millionaire, though, by picking up a check for $18,000. She’s won $1,003,890 in her career.
Sadler, who told Del Mar’s Hank Wesch he’s not a party person, has had plenty of reason to celebrate these past 19 months. After his first Breeders’ Cup victory last fall when Accelerate won the Classic and propelled him to his best year in earnings ($8.9 million) since he took out his trainer’s license in 1979, he’s followed that up with a strong first half to 2019.
“She came my way (two starts ago) in really good shape and I’ve just kind of carried on for what (Morey) did last year,” said Sadler, who has 72 stakes wins at Del Mar, good for fourth all-time.
Asked if he was surprised Ollie’s Candy was on the lead, the Long Beach native and Pasadena resident wasn’t about to second guess a Hall of Fame jockey.
“You don’t give Kent any instructions. You just don’t,” Sadler said. “I was surprised to see her in front, but it worked out.”
So far, the first two weeks at the beach have worked out just fine for Sadler.
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