Trainer John Sadler was one of the speakers.

“It’s a black eye for racing that he was not in there earlier,” Sadler said. “The knock has been that he did it all on the San Francisco circuit, but you look at his numbers and horses like Lite Light, King Glorious and now Blind Luck and there’s no question he belongs.”

Sadler has known Hollendorfer for more than 30 years going back to the late 1970s when they both had a handful of horses and were racing on the Northern California circuit. At the gathering, Sadler presented a couple of observations regarding Hollendorfer.

“He’s bought more Hip No. 1 (first in the sales ring) horses than any other trainer,” Sadler said. “Why? Because he doesn’t want to get shut out. And also because he’s very competitive, has done his homework and knows what he’s looking for.

“He’s also claimed a lot of horses from the last race on December 24, or whatever the date is before the Christmas break. Others might want to take off early, but he’s always kept on working to the end.”

At the event, Sadler opined that the two greatest athletes produced in Akron, Ohio were Hollendorfer and NBA superstar LeBron James.

“Jerry says he’s smarter than LeBron because he was able to get out of there sooner than LeBron was,” Sadler said.

‘WIN AND IN’ OPPORTUNITIES IN COUGAR II AND SAN DIEGO

Automatic starting positions into Breeders’ Cup World Championship races await the winners of Friday’s Grade III Cougar II Handicap and Saturday’s Grade II San Diego Handicap through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.

The Breeders’ Cup Challenge is a global series of 68 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held November 4-5 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

The Cougar II, to be run at 1 ½ miles for 3-year-olds and up, is the third automatic qualifier this year for a spot in the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, which will be run at 1 ¾ miles at Churchill Downs. The first two Marathon qualifiers were Mr. Nedawi, who won the Clasico Belgarno in Argentina in June and A.U. Miner, who captured the Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing on July 16.

This year, Breeders’ Cup Limited has introduced new enhancements for horsemen to the Challenge series. If the Cougar II winner is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by October 24, Breeders’ Cup Ltd. will benefit the winning stable by paying the $15,000 in entry fees into the Marathon and provide a $10,000 travel allowance to Louisville for the Championships.

The San Diego Handicap, run at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds and up, is a “Win and You’re In” for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I). If the San Diego winner is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by Oct. 24, Breeders’ Cup Ltd. will pay for the $30,000 entry fees into the Dirt Mile and provide the stable with a $10,000 travel allowance. Tizway, winner of the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) at Belmont Park on May 30, was the first horse to qualify for this year’s Dirt Mile.

“JIMMY THE HAT,” BOB IKE WEEKEND HANDICAPPING GUESTS

Racetracker deluxe “Jimmy the Hat” and syndicated newspaper handicapper Bob Ike will be Del Mar’s handicapping guests this weekend as the track continues its ongoing program of free handicapping seminars in the Seaside Terrace area near the head of the stretch.

“Jimmy the Hat” will be Saturday’s guest, while Ike will pick winners before Sunday’s program. The seminars run from 12:45 to approximately 1:30.

“Jimmy the Hat” is, in fact, Jimmy Allard, who is known to racetrack regulars on the Southern California circuit as the dapper gentleman who always sports a snappy hat as part of his racetrack garb. He’ll become even better known to many more this fall when HBO debuts its new racetrack series “Luck,” which stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. “Jimmy the Hat” will be part of the cast of the highly anticipated show.

Ike, a longtime handicapper on the Southern California scene, has been syndicated in more than a dozen newspapers over the years, and is again the lead handicapper for the local San Diego Union Tribune. He also has branched out recently into the world of syndicated horse ownership and heads a group called Summit Racing that puts together horse partnerships. The group is racing several horses at the current Del Mar meeting.