Sadler to Unveil Argentina's Subsanador in San Antonio

A year after the retirement of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline  , trainer John Sadler has another exciting older stakes horse in his barn, this one coming to him from Argentina.

Subsanador, a three-time group 1 winner in Argentina and 4-for-5 overall in 2023, is set to make his United States debut Dec. 26 on opening day of the Santa Anita Park winter/spring meet in the $200,000 San Antonio Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles. 

A son of Fortify , Subsanador is young relative to Northern Hemisphere-born 4-year-olds, having been foaled Aug. 3, 2019, in the Southern Hemisphere. He last raced July 29, winning the Peru Stakes (G2) for owner Carlos Alejandro Vazquez and his trainer in Argentina, Nicolas Martin Ferro.

Sadler said Subsanador joined his stable in September and has been given time to acclimate.

"His only two races that aren't the best, and he'll never see it here, is turf," he added, referring to a pair of off-the-board finishes. "His dirt record is very good down there."

He is 4-for-4 on dirt in 2023, having captured the 1 1/8-mile Peru, his longest race, by a diminishing head.

Since eased into training, he has recorded numerous attention-grabbing workouts at Santa Anita. Most recently, he covered six furlongs in 1:13 1/5 Dec. 18. That followed a seven-furlong breeze in 1:25 4/5 Dec. 11.

Subsanador (6F: 1:13.80 H) working this morning. pic.twitter.com/DeSEwIHgI4

— Ernie Belmonte (@ErnieBPhoto93) December 19, 2023

The fastest of his local works came Dec. 4 in a six-furlong breeze, in which Subsanador tracked a workmate and overwhelmed him in the stretch, clocking a bullet 1:11 4/5. Flavien Prat was aboard for the Dec. 4 breeze and will ride Subsanador in the San Antonio, according to Sadler.

The colt could face Brickyard Ride , Stilleto Boy , Win the Day , and others in the San Antonio.

Subsanador is one of three stakes horses Sadler plans to run Tuesday, the others being Missed the Cut  in the San Gabriel Stakes (G2T) and Panic Alarm  in the Mathis Mile Stakes (G2T).

The San Antonio is one of the local preps leading toward the March 2 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), a $500,000 race at 1 1/4 miles and one of Santa Anita's most historic stakes. Sadler won the Santa Anita Handicap consecutively from 2018-20 with Accelerate , Gift Box  , and Combatant —all for Hronis Racing. Those horses were campaigned domestically after being bought at auction or privately.

Sadler said he was contacted by Subsanador's connections to train him in the United States.

"I encouraged them in the sense that so many of our good dirt horses went home. We're retiring so many of these horses so soon—mine included," he said, meaning Flightline. "There's great opportunity in that division here."

He acknowledged the challenge of measuring how a South American horse stacks up against North American opposition.

"He comes from good connections down there. The trainer that had them down there is excellent," Sadler said. "So if they have the confidence to send them up here, that makes me feel a little more confident, too."