John Sadler trains and Flavien Prat will ride Subsanador. (Benoit Photo)
Mike Willman/Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—A three-time Group I stakes winner and favored in 10 out of his 11 starts in his native Argentina, John Sadler’s Subsanador figures prominently as he makes his U.S. debut with Flavien Prat at the controls versus five rivals going a mile and one sixteenth in Tuesday’s Grade II, $200,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita.
With Flavien Prat engaged, Subsanador, a 4-year-old chestnut colt, has been idle since winning a Group II stakes in Argentina on July 29, but he enters the San Antonio on the strength of a strong work tab that includes four consecutive bullet moves, the most recent a seven furlong clocking of 1:25.80 on Dec. 11.
Owned by Carlos Alejandro Vazquez, Subsanador’s Argentine resume reads 12-7-1-1 with earnings of $149,124.
A winner of this year’s Grade I Santa Anita Handicap and with career earnings in excess of $1.8 million, owner Steve Moger’s Stilleto Boy has lofty credentials but comes off a pair of terrible starts, as he finished a distant last in the Grade I Awesome Again here Sept. 30 and was eased two starts back in the Grade I Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
Trained by Ed Moger, Jr., Stilleto Boy has long been based at Golden Gate Fields but will be relocating soon to Santa Anita with the rest of Moger’s stable. A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Shackleford, Stilleto Boy, a three-time stakes winner, is 25-4-4-9 and is 8-2-2-2 at Santa Anita.
With leading man Juan Hernandez back aboard for the first time since September of 2022, look for Stilleto Boy to run a much improved race in the San Antonio, a race in which he finished second a year ago.
A runaway 8 ¼ length Grade II winner going the seldom-run distance of a mile and five eighths here on Nov. 4, Richard Mandella was nonetheless in search of a new rider for his Irish-bred Salesman, as Flavien Prat has opted to ride newcomer Subsanador.
With Mike Smith engaged, Salesman, who earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure on Nov. 4, seems to have found a new home on dirt as a 6-year-old gelding. Raced nearly exclusively on turf in France, Salesman was well beaten in his first two stateside assignments on grass with Mandella, finishing ninth in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile here May 29 and 12thin the restricted Wickerr Stakes July 23 at Del Mar.
Switched to dirt at a mile and one sixteenth in the restricted Los Alamitos Special Sept. 17 he ran a much improved third, followed by his rollicking win on Nov. 4. Owned by Wertheimer and Frere, Saleman is 26-4-6-5 overall with earnings of $335,300.
The Grade II San Antonio
Race 6 of 11 Approximate post time 1:30 p.m. PT1 Stilleto Boy—Juan Hernandez—123
2 Salesman—Mike Smith—125
3 Brickyard Ride—Umberto Rispoli—121
4 Newgrange—Irad Ortiz, Jr.—123
5 Subsanador—Flavien Prat—125
6 Mixto—Antonio Fresu—119
With 11 races, six of them graded stakes on the opening day docket, first post time will be early at 11 a.m. Admission gates will open at 9 a.m.
