Sadler to ‘mix and match’ Gift Box, Higher Power in major races
Come Jan. 25, expect the team of Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler to be represented in the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup. After Saturday, it’s just a matter of which horse.
Gift Box, who returned a 3 3/4-length winner of Santa Anita Park’s San Antonio Stakes (G2), put himself under consideration for a number of major races in 2020 with an easy front-running victory in his first start since June.
The 6-year-old son of Twirling Candy went back to back in the San Antonio, a race he took in 2018 after a private purchase by his new connections.
“This year he’s 20 pounds heavier and looks a little bigger and stronger,” said owner Kosta Hronis. “He’s been working out really well. I felt pretty confident coming in, because just like last year he came in off a big layoff, and it doesn’t seem to bother him. If he’s sharp and ready, we’ll try to keep him that way.”
Hronis and Sadler also have in the barn Higher Power, the Pacific Classic (G1) winner who was most recently third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He and Gift Box are candidates for the same type of big-money, two-turn races into the new year.
“We’ll see how he comes out of the race and maybe run him back east or maybe take Higher Power back there,” Sadler said of the Pegasus. “We’re blessed to have two or three horses in this division, so we’re going to kind of mix and match…
“We’re going to be judicious.”
Two races other than the Pegasus were mentioned for Gift Box as targets. Sadler would like to see him go for a repeat in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) on March 7, while Hronis envisions a well-spaced campaign culminating in the Breeders’ Cup, an event Gift Box missed in 2019.
A Pegasus-Big ‘Cap path would seem sensible for Gift Box. Higher Power may also become a candidate for the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup, the inaugural $20 million race overseas.
“We’ll let John manage him all year and space things out,” Hronis said of Gift Box. “He’s (turning) 7, so he needs some spacing. We’ll take real good care of him, and obviously he can run really good off a layoff, so there’s no rush to keep him busy. We’ll just let him be the pro that he is.”