New Zealand-bred gelding Crossing the Line is still going strong as a 10 year-old in California.

Crossing the Line (10g Cape Cross – Winds of War by War Hawk II) powered home from last to capture a Santa Anita allowance by a length on Thursday.  “He doesn’t know how to run a bad race,” trainer John Sadler said.  “We enjoy having him and we’re going to keep him around as long it still looks like it’s fun for him.

“It’s not like he has 100 starts,” Sadler added.  “He’s got low mileage, like the car the little old lady from Pasadena used to drive only to church on Sunday mornings.”

Crossing the Line (NZ) races under the Doubledown Stables banner of Chicago based owner Richard Templer.  He won at Tauherenikau and Otaki before going off-shore following a bleeding attack in November 2006.

Crossing the Line is a stablemate of Australian G1 winner Pressday who also bled last year.  The Eliza Park bound stallion has been placed twice at Santa Anita this year and Sadler kept him ticking over with a 1000m workout in 61.20s on Thursday morning.

Cape Cross shuttled to Cambridge Stud from 2000 to 2003 and sired the NZ bred G1 winners Seachange, Kindacross, Able One, Gaze and Mikki Street.  The Darley brains trust re-routed him to the Hunter Valley but the results have been nowhere near as impressive as his (NZ) progeny.

Cape Cross (Green Desert) stands at Kildangan Stud and his Irish bred progeny includes all-time greats Ouija Board and Sea The Stars.