Sadler's Joy Looks to Script a New Finish in Red Smith

A horse like Sadler's Joy is a superfecta player's best friend.

In 25 starts, the 6-year-old son of Kitten's Joy  has been fourth or better 22 times.

"He's a little unlucky," said Tom Albertrani, who trains the grade 1 winner for owners/breeders Rene and Lauren Woolcott of Woodslane Farm, "but he always shows up."

Yet handicappers who prefer to place their dollars on the nose to win might have a different take. For all those strong efforts Sadler's Joy has turned in, he has just six wins and has lost his past 10 starts, with five of them coming at odds of 5-2 or less. Those numbers promise to be the elephant in the room Nov. 23 when he once again figures to be heavily supported at the betting windows as he faces an overflow field in the $200,000 Red Smith Stakes (G3T) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"A lot of it has to do with his running style since he comes from the back. He always needs a perfect trip without losing much ground," Albertrani said. "A lot of these turf races, it's all about saving ground however you can, and he's not the easiest horse to ride because he can wait on the competition. When you see how little he loses by and how much ground he gives up, it hurts. You combine his margin of loss in a few of those losses, and it won't equal a length."

In those past 10 races, Sadler's Joy lost by a half-length or less on five occasions while racking up three seconds and four thirds since his March 3, 2018, victory in the Mac Diarmida Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park. Seven of the starts came in grade 1 stakes, providing the son of the Dynaformer mare Dynaire with a measure of class relief in Saturday's race.

"He fits in nicely," Albertrani said. "There's some nice horses in there, but they are not what he's been facing."

In his three 2019 starts, Sadler's Joy has taken on New York's best distance turf runners, finishing third, beaten by a half-length, in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) Oct. 5 in his most recent start. A third consecutive trip to the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), where he was third in 2018 and fourth in 2017, seemed to be in the cards, but the chestnut horse was slow to recover from the 1 1/2-mile Joe Hirsch, and Albertrani opted to give him some needed time off.

"He had a hard race in the Turf Classic, and it took a little bit out of him. He was a little bit on the quiet side afterwards, so I thought we'd skip the Breeders' Cup and get him a little fresher and then regroup after (the Red Smith)," Albertrani said. "He is doing terrific now. He's training well going into the race. I couldn't be more pleased with how he's been training."

Sadler's Joy will get a rider switch in the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith, reverting to Javier Castellano, who was aboard for six of his past eight starts. Jose Lezcano rode the multiple graded stakes winner in his past two tries, including the Joe Hirsch, when he was uncharacteristically close to the early pace in second.

"I think Jose misread him and took him out of his character. The pace wasn't fast (an opening half-mile in :50.85 on firm turf), but when he broke slow, Jose got into him early, and that put him on the muscle the whole race. He was using up a lot of energy and wasn't where he should have been in hindsight. He was too close to the front for his own good," Albertrani said about the half brother to stakes-placed Lunaire and Dyna Passer who will break from post 7. 

Sadler's Joy has a new career awaiting him in 2020. Though Albertrani is uncertain of his runner's next start after the Red Smith—especially with the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) being a tad short for him at 1 3/16 miles—plans call for the $2.3 million earner to close his career overseas in the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) March 28 at about 1 1/2 miles. 

"Our plan is to get him to Dubai," the 61-year-old trainer said, "and then after that, he'll probably go to stud for a new phase of his career."

The Red Smith attracted 16 entries, including two also-eligibles and three main-track-only starters. Among them will be Chiefswood Stables' speedy Tiz a Slam, a grade 2 winner who had a three-race win streak snapped in his most recent start when the 5-year-old son of Tiznow  battled for the lead in the Northern Dancer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine but wound up fourth, beaten by 2 3/4 lengths. Tiz a Slam drew the rail.

"He's a big horse and he's just mature now," said Roger Attfield, who trains the winner of nine of 27 starts with earnings of $985,953. "A lot of those bigger horses don't mature until the end of their 4-year-old year, and I think he's fully matured now. We looked after him well in his early life, so he's a very sound horse."

The field also includes Matthew Schera's grade 1 winner Glorious Empire, an 8-year-old Holy Roman Emperor gelding trained by James Lawrence II who was fifth last time out in the Knickerbocker Stakes (G2T); Three Diamonds Farm's Sycamore Stakes (G3T) winner Marzo, a son of Medaglia d'Oro  trained by Mike Maker; West Point Thoroughbred's group 3 winner Petit Fils, a Christophe Clement-trained son of Makfi making his United States debut; and Runnymede Racing's Postulation, a Harlan's Holiday gelding who was third in the 1 1/2-mile Sycamore for trainer Michael Matz.