Gift Box Takes On Midcourt in Santa Anita Handicap

Armed with defending champion Gift Box and longshot Combatant, owner Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler bid for an unprecedented three-peat March 7 in the $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

Though other horsemen have more wins in the historic race—trainer Charlie Whittingham captured it a record nine times, followed by trainer Bob Baffert with five—no one has won it three years in a row. Sadler and Hronis Racing won it with champion Accelerate  in 2018 and Gift Box last year. Seven other trainers have won it back-to-back, including Baffert twice, and even fewer owners have repeated.

The odds might be in their favor. Gift Box is the highweight at 126 pounds, and just one of his seven foes has done enough to warrant an impost greater than 118—Midcourt at 123.

The race seems a bit softer than last year's renewal when Gift Box was a nose winner over McKinzie. The late Mongolian Groom ran third.

None of the five rivals he defeated last year are back for the 2020 edition, and Saturday's field lacks another grade 1 winner. Two of the region's better handicap horses, McKinzie and Mucho Gusto, instead raced in the $20 million Saudi Cup, running 11th and fourth, respectively.

But the 2020 Big 'Cap is no walkover for Gift Box. Though most of the entrants are light on stakes accomplishments, one rival—Midcourt—is not. He is one of the hottest horses in Southern California with five wins in his past six starts, including the Feb. 1 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) by 3 1/2 lengths.

As sharp as Midcourt is, his résumé does not match that of Gift Box. In addition to taking the Santa Anita Handicap last year, Gift Box also ran second in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1) behind eventual Longines Breeder's Cup Classic (G1) winner and champion older dirt male Vino Rosso , fourth in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs, and first in the Dec. 28 San Antonio Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita in his most recent start.

In the latter race, he handily defeated Midcourt, who was third, though it was not a fair fight. Midcourt blew the start and, after rushing to catch up into the first turn, was hung extremely wide. He remained well out in the center of the track thereafter.

Sometimes slow into stride, Midcourt is at his most effective when he can secure a forward position before the first turn, seemingly making a race such as the Big 'Cap perfect for his style. Starting at the top of the lane, there is a run of over a quarter-mile before the first of two turns in the 1 1/4-mile dirt race.

A 5-year-old son of Midnight Lute , Midcourt is 2-for-2 at 1 1/8 miles, though he has not been tested over 1 1/4 miles. John Shirreffs trains the gelding for Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable. Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza rides.

"I have all the respect in the world for him. I ran in that race that he won the other day, was third with (Combatant). That's a very good horse," Sadler said of Midcourt. "Anytime you put the money up here and you put a grade 1 up, it's a big deal. I know there are a lot of good horses, but we've got a good horse."

A win from Combatant would be more of a surprise than Gift Box, though he is a horse who has run well in major races from time to time, including during his 3-year-old year when he was on the Triple Crown trail with then-trainer Steve Asmussen. He rallied to finish 5 3/4 lengths behind Midcourt when third in the San Pasqual. 

Umberto Rispoli will ride Saturday.

Sadler, who trains both horses for Hronis Racing, said he and his owners thought about the lucrative Saudi Cup for Gift Box, a 7-year-old Twirling Candy  horse, before deciding against it.

"If you're making the decision on the money, you go to Saudi. But if you don't win the money, it's not a great decision," he said. "It just seemed that for us, for this horse, his program and what we have in mind for him, the best decision was to stay home. Run at home another time—though that doesn't mean he couldn't still go to Dubai, though that's just three weeks off this one."

The $12 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) is March 28 at Meydan Racecourse, a race under consideration for Mucho Gusto and Tacitus, who was fifth in the Saudi Cup.

Joel Rosario will be aboard Gift Box, as he has been in all five races he has made for Sadler after Hronis Racing purchased the colt privately from W.S. Farish in 2018. The horse was stakes-placed with trainer Chad Brown on the East Coast before joining Sadler.

Mild threats in the Santa Anita Handicap include Two Thirty Five, second in the San Pasqual; Hofburg, third in the 2018 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) but seventh in his lone start this year in the Feb. 15 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots; and stakes-placed Endorsed, a second-level allowance winner at Gulfstream Park Jan. 11.

The remaining two runners, Multiplier and Brown Storm, move from turf to dirt and are outsiders.

The Santa Anita Handicap, postponed last year until April after Santa Anita shut down its track to evaluate a spike of equine fatalities, returns to its traditional early March placement. It is one of five stakes, four graded, on an afternoon that also features Got Stormy in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) and Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) prospects Authentic, Honor A. P., Storm the Court, Thousand Words, and Wrecking Crew in the San Felipe Stakes (G2).

Post time for the Santa Anita Handicap is 4:03 p.m. PT as the 10th race on a 12-race card.

Entries: Santa Anita H. (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, March 07, 2020, Race 10

• Grade I
• 1 1/4m
• Dirt
• $600,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:03 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Multiplier (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	113	Peter Miller	20/1
2	2Two Thirty Five (KY)	Ruben Fuentes	118	Richard Baltas	12/1
3	3Brown Storm (CHI)	Hector Isaac Berrios	114	Michael W. McCarthy	20/1
4	4Gift Box (KY)	Joel Rosario	126	John W. Sadler	6/5
5	5Midcourt (KY)	Victor Espinoza	123	John A. Shirreffs	2/1
6	6Combatant (KY)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	116	John W. Sadler	12/1
7	7Hofburg (KY)	Flavien Prat	115	William I. Mott	6/1
8	8Endorsed (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	115	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	6/1