Catalina Cruiser – Photo by Ernie Belmonte
Hronis Racing’s Catalina Cruiser broke alertly from the gate, went straight to the lead and never looked back, showing the way through easy splits of :24.52, :48.94, 1:13.04 and 1:37.71 under Joel Rosario before drawing off to win by a length in Saturday’s $196,000 San Diego Handicap (GII) at Del Mar. Under little more than a hand ride, the John Sadler trainee cruised to the win over a fast track and stopped the Teletimer in 1:44.20. “I’m sure glad to be here today and especially to ride a nice horse like this,” Rosario said. Bred in Kentucky by W.S. Farish, Catalina Cruiser was a $370,000 yearling purchase out of the Lane’s End consignment at Keeneland with Martin Anthony singing the sales ticket. The son of Union Rags has now won six of seven races, including the two San Diegos, the 2018 Pat O’ Brien Stakes (GII) and the True North Stakes (GII) at Belmont Park. His only loss was a sixth-place finish in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) at Churchill Downs as the 4-5 favorite. Overall he’s earned $571,100. “The objective of the other jockeys was obviously to press the pace,” Sadler said. “But he was running smooth all the way. When you’re 1-9 there’s a lot of conversation about style points and things like that, but he was comfortable all the way. The fractions were slow, but this is not a fast track. We’ll check the speed figures and things like that and we’ll see how he comes out of it and decide whether to run in the Pacific Classic or not. We’ve got options.
Congrats @johnwsadler @sadlerracing @JRosario_Fan @hronisracing 🏆#SanDiegoH #SanDiegoHandicap #DelMar #DelMarRacing #CatalinaCruiser pic.twitter.com/eUl20kp2kL
— US Racing (@USRacingToday) July 20, 2019
California native and lifelong horsewoman Margaret Ransom is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program. She got her start in racing working in the publicity departments at Calder Race Course and Hialeah Park, as well as in the racing office at Gulfstream Park in South Florida. She then spent six years in Lexington, KY, at BRISnet.com, where she helped create and develop the company’s popular newsletters: Handicapper’s Edge and Bloodstock Journal.After returning to California, she served six years as the Southern California news correspondent for BloodHorse, assisted in the publicity department at Santa Anita Park and was a contributor to many other racing publications, including HorsePlayer Magazine and Trainer Magazine. She then spent seven years at HRTV and HRTV.com in various roles as researcher, programming assistant, producer and social media and marketing manager.
She has also walked hots and groomed runners, worked the elite sales in Kentucky for top-class consignors and volunteers for several racehorse retirement organizations, including CARMA.In 2016, Margaret was the recipient of the prestigious Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, sponsored by Team Valor, and was an Eclipse Award honorable mention for her story, “The Shocking Untold Story of Maria Borell,” which appeared on USRacing.com. The article and subsequent stories helped save 43 abandoned and neglected Thoroughbreds in Kentucky and also helped create a new animal welfare law in Kentucky known as the “Borell Law.”Margaret’s very first Breeders’ Cup was at Hollywood Park in 1984 and she has attended more than half of the Breeders’ Cups since. She counts Holy Bull and Arrogate as her favorite horses of all time.She lives in Robinson, Texas, with her longtime beau, Tony. She is the executive director of the 501(c)(3) non-profit horse rescue, The Bridge Sanctuary.