Gladding continues Sadler's hot hand in San Antonio

With Rafael Bejarano back aboard, Gladding commandeered the lead from his

rail post and got away with tepid splits of :23 3/5, :48 3/5 and 1:13 2/5. Aggie

Engineer (E Dubai), the even-money favorite off wins in the Native Diver H. (G3)

and San Pasqual S. (G2), opted to stay back off the pace this time. Instead, the

only one to challenge the pacesetter was Pode Ir (Brz) (Crimson Tide), who

wasn't up to the task and eventually beat a retreat.

Spurrier (Dixieland Band) was unhurried in last for the opening half-mile,

but jockey Joel Rosario must have sensed the lack of any meaningful pace, for he

made his move late on the backstretch. Circling boldly on the far turn, Spurrier

confronted Gladding entering the stretch. The front runner had more than enough

left, though, and edged away again to prevail by one length while completing 1

1/8 miles on the fast track in 1:48. The 8-5 second choice, Gladding rewarded

his backers with $5.20, $3.40 and $2.40.

"I thought (Joe Talamo) was going to send the seven (Aggie Engineer),"

Bejarano said, "but when I saw him take a hold, it let me go to the lead really

easy. I decided to stay there and stay close to everybody. I was really

comfortable with the pace and I was waiting for the stretch.

"When I felt the other horse (Spurrier) come running from the outside, I made

sure to try and keep my horse on the lead down the stretch and let him explode.

He showed me a big kick.

"I wasn't worried too much about the second-place horse (Spurrier), I was

more worried about the seven (Aggie Engineer). That's why I tried to set the

pace and stay comfortable with my pace. I had enough horse in the stretch. I

only had to hit him a couple times.

"We thought it would be us or Aggie Engineer for the lead," Sadler said, "so

Bejarano wanted to bounce out of there a little bit and see what Talamo decided

to do. He (Talamo) took back a little bit and inherited the trip we thought we

might get. It's fun when it works out like you think it might. It doesn't always

go like that, but right now, we're in that space, so we're really happy."

The 4-1 Spurrier crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Aggie Engineer in

third. Another half-length back in fourth came Quindici Man (Came Home),

followed by Big Shot Syd (Chapel Royal) and Pode Ir. Dakota Phone (Zavata) was

scratched after winding up sixth in Saturday's Thunder Road H. (G3).

Originally campaigned by his breeder Kathryn C. Schultz and trained by Harold

Schultz, Gladding began his racing career at Calder last year. The dark bay

toiled unsuccessfully in his first six starts, but the seventh time was the

charm when he routed an October 22 maiden by 17 1/4 lengths going one mile on

the dirt. Gladding reverted to turf next time in a November 11 allowance, where

he finished fourth in what turned out to be his finale for Schultz. His San

Antonio heroics improved his mark to 10-3-2-1 and more than doubled his earnings

to $161,825.

Gladding is out of the Island Whirl mare Cannon Whirl, who compiled an

82-9-8-13 record over eight seasons of racing. Her latest offspring are a

juvenile colt named Indian Pow Wow (Indian Express) and a yearling filly named

In Your Window (Guillaume Tell [Ire]). Further back, Gladding hails from the

family of Canadian champion turf horse Hasten to Add (Cozzene) and Canadian

Grade 1 queen See How She Runs (Maria's Mon).

Sadler mentioned that Gladding could join his highly-regarded stablemate

Twirling Candy in the March 5 Santa Anita H. (G1).

"I told Lee (co-owner Searing), 'I've got to come here and say, he'll kick

the crap out of Twirling Candy," Sadler quipped, "but seriously, he's another

option for the Big 'Cap also, and if he's doing well, and he's ready, he'll

probably go in there with the other horse (Twirling Candy)."