Flyover soars to victory in the Crystal Water Stakes for California-breds going one mile on turf Saturday at Santa Anita

FLYOVER SOARS TO VICTORY IN THE CRYSTAL WATER STAKES FOR CALIFORNIA-BREDS GOING ONE MILE ON TURF SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (May 23, 2026)—Flyover made it back-to-back stakes wins Saturday when rolling to a front-running victory under Antonio Fresu in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes for California-breds going one mile on turf at Santa Anita.

Flyover, dispatched as the 4-5 favorite, went right to the lead under Antonio Fresu and proceeded to set sharp fractions of 22.74, 45.74 and 1:08.97 for six furlongs. Flyover increased his advantage on the second turn and had plenty left in the late going to win by one length. On the Whim, the 7-2 second choice ridden by Tiago Pereira and trained by Dean Pederson, finished second, he was followed by Prince Dolce (5-1) and Santa Barbarian (15-1).

Trained by John Sadler, Flyover won in a sharp final time of 1:33.50. The 5-year-old horse by Om is owned by Integrity Thoroughbred Racing, The Ellwood Johnston Trust, ITR LLC and Kenneth A. Tevelde.

In his previous start, Flyover earned his first stakes win when scoring in the Sensational Star for statebreds going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course. His latest victory improved his record to 11: 6-0-0 with nearly $300,000 in earnings.

Flyover paid $3.60, $2.20 and $2.10. On the Whim returned $2.80 and $2.60. Prince Dolce, ridden by Ricky Gonzalez for trainer Steve Knapp, paid $2.60.

__CRYSTAL WATER STAKES QUOTES __

JOCKEY QUOTES

ANTONIO FRESU, FLYOVER, WINNER: “I won on him at a mile last year but lately he’s been sprinting. He is a very fast horse, so today, the key was to relax him as much as I could. You could tell he was OK the first part, but at the first turn he really started pulling on me. I tried to ease off the reins to just to get him to relax, but he was always a handful but in control. He can go fast and he’s comfortable doing it. I was just waiting to hit the stretch to unleash him.

“I don’t know why he was veering out a little bit the last part of the race. I just think he was getting a little bit tired, but it is understandable. I always say he’s a very good Cal-bred. He can run in open company and has proved it. John has been doing a great job with him to keep him this way and today he was spot on to preform at a mile like he did. That was amazing.”

TRAINER QUOTES

JOHN SADLER, FLYOVER, WINNER: “It says something when you see the iconic silks of Ellwood Johnston and the Harris Farms coming down to the wire one-two. It shows that California state breds are among the best in the country. Flyover is a nice horse. He’s six for 11 now. He always tries hard. I think this is as far as he would like to go (a mile), but I think he is better going shorter. He’s a pretty nice horse.”

NOTES: The winning owners are Integrity Thoroughbred Racing, LLC, ITR LLC, The Ellwood Johnston Trust and Kenneth Tevelde.