John W. Sadler (born July 30, 1956) is an American

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

in the sport of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. He currently has over 2,600 race wins, including the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic with Accelerate, who was subsequently named

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to san ...

. He has won multiple training titles at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

, Del Mar and the now defunct

Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois *Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and ma ...

. Sadler trained Flightline, the winner of the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Background

Sadler was born on July 30, 1956, in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

before returning to Southern California to work as a veterinary assistant. He took out his trainer's license in 1978. He currently resides in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

Racing career

Sadler got his first win in 1979 at

Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields was an American horse racing race track, track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closi ...

racetrack in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. His first graded stakes win came in 1982 when Don Roberto won the Rolling Green Handicap. His first Grade I winner was Victory Encounter, who took the 2004

Vanity Handicap The Beholder Mile Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and up. It is run over a distance of one mile on the dirt each year in March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. History The event was ...

. In April 1991, Sadler won Santa Anita's first-ever

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams cons ...

when his trainee Valiant Pete took on champion

American Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to ...

Griswold in a $100,000 winner-take-all race. Racing at the unusual distance of four furlongs (short for a Thoroughbred, long for a Quarter Horse), Valiant Pete set a world record of 0:44. At Hollywood Park on June 28, 2008, Sadler won three stakes races when Whatsthescript won the Grade 2 American Handicap, Dearest Trickski triumphed in the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap and Emmy Darling took the Landaluce Stakes. On December 26, 2010, he repeated this performance at Santa Anita, when Twirling Candy won the Grade I Malibu Stakes, Switch won the Grade I La Brea Stakes and Sidney's Candy won the Grade II Sir Beaufort Stakes. Sadler won three stakes races for the third time at Hollywood Park on July 17, 2012, when Scherer Magic won the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship, Switch in the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap and Lady of Shamrock in the Grade 1 Hollywood Oaks. In 2011, Sadler surpassed $70 million earned in purses.John Sadler
, ''NTRA'', accessed October 5, 2011 His career purse earnings reached $100 million in 2015. In November 2012, Sadler won his 2,000th race when Rooster City won a claiming race at Betfair Hollywood Park. Sadler has won multiple training titles at Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and Del Mar.John Sadler
, ''NTRA'', accessed October 5, 2011. Sadler was winless at the

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

until 2018, although he did finish second in the 2015 Distaff with Stellar Wind, second in the 2010 Filly & Mare Sprint with Switch and third in the 2016 Dirt Mile, 2014 Distaff, 2014 Juvenile Turf, 2012 Filly and Mare Sprint, 2009 Sprint and 2008 Mile. He finally broke through by winning the Classic with Accelerate, who earned American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse honors.He won it again in 2022 with Flightline, one of the best horses the racing world have ever seen. Other top thoroughbreds for Sadler include Alpha Kitten, Appealing Missy, Belmont Cat, Black Mamba, Cost of Freedom, Dawn After Dawn, Dearest Trickski, Evita Argentina, Frost Free, Geronimo, Get Funky, Hasty Kris, Healthy Addiction, Lady of Shamrock, Musique Toujours, Noble Court, Oil Man, Olympic Prospect, Tasha's Miracle, Taste of Paradise, Three Peat, Tizbud, Track Gal, Victory Encounter and Zappa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadler, John W. 1956 births Living people American racehorse trainers Sportspeople from Long Beach, California