IDLE SINCE MARCH, GIFT BOX, IN HIS FIRST START FOR SADLER, TAKES GRADE II SAN ANTONIO

By Mike Willman —-

GIFT BOX
ZOE METZ PHOTOGRAPHY

IDLE SINCE MARCH, GIFT BOX, IN HIS FIRST START FOR SADLER, TAKES GRADE II, $300,000 SAN ANTONIO STAKES BY A HALF LENGTH UNDER ROSARIO; 5-YEAR-OLD SON OF TWIRLING CANDY GETS 1 1/16 MILES IN 1:43.88

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 26, 2018)—Idle since March 24 in New York, Gift Box made a smashing acquaintance at Santa Anita on Wednesday, as he ran down the highly regarded duo of Battle of Midway and Dabster to take the Grade II, $300,000 San Antonio Stakes by a half length under Joel Rosario. In his first start for John Sadler, the 5-year-old grey son of Twirling Candy got 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.88.
With longshot Pitino rocketing to the lead into the Club House turn, Battle of Midway and Dabster were in hot pursuit while head and head up the backside. When Pitino faltered leaving the three furlong pole, it was Battle of Midway and Dabster slugging it out to the quarter pole, but Gift Box breezed up to their outside while three-deep and looked all a winner turning for home.
Originally trained by Chad Brown, Gift Box, who was last seen at Aqueduct winning a one turn mile allowance by 8 ¾ lengths, was off at 6-1 and paid $15.00, $6.20 and $3.60.
Purchased privately by Hronis Racing, LLC for an undisclosed sum, Gift Box, who was graded stakes-placed at two, got his first stakes win today and with the winner’s share of $180,000, he increased his earnings to $524,160. With the win, Gift Box, who is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Special Me, ran his overall mark to 14-4-5-2.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Battle of Midway, who came off hard fought neck win over Dabster in the Grade III Native Diver Stakes Nov. 25 at Del Mar, was ultra game in defeat as he finished three quarters of a length clear of his rival.
Ridden by Flavien Prat, Battle of Midway was off at 3-2 and paid $3.00 and $2.20.
With Joe Talamo up for Bob Baffert, Dabster finished 3 ½ lengths clear of Beach View. Off at 9-5, Dabster paid $2.40 to show.
Fractions on the race were 23.28, 46.72, 1:11.06 and 1:37.13.

SAN ANTONIO STAKES QUOTES
GRADE II, $300,000

JOCKEY QUOTES
JOEL ROSARIO, GIFT BOX, WINNER: “He ran really good, every time when the horses were coming up from behind him, he was pushing and wanted to keep going. So, I thought that was pretty good. He got some good headway and when he was heading for home, he kind of took the lead, then fell back a little bit and regained it. He just needed someone to push him a little bit.

I thought it was a perfect trip for a little bit and then right on the backside coming by the half mile, I was in between horses for a little bit and I was looking to get out of there because he’s kind of a free running horse. And I did coming for the turn, I got where I wanted to be on the outside and then he just did the job from there.”
FLAVIEN PRAT, BATTLE OF MIDWAY, SECOND: “I had a good trip. I’ve got no excuse. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary”

TRAINER QUOTES
JOHN SADLER, GIFT BOX, WINNER: “Hopefully this horse will be in the handicap division this year and we’re not opposed to going to Dubai with him.
“He’s close to my heart. He’s from the first crop of Twirling Candy so I’ve been watching him for a couple of years. He’s trained really well for this race and he’s had a bunch of bullets. He ran like he trained.
“I was following him before the sale happened. He went back to the farm and the previous owners indicated that they’d like to move him along so I went back there before the September yearling sale and took a look at him, and liked him.
“I know he can run, he’s had some good speed figures. We took a shot and here we are.
“He had some interesting races back east, some highly rated allowance races. He was fourth to Arrogate in the Travers, and he was second in another stakes race at Saratoga, so there are a lot of nice running lines in there.
“Isn’t he beautiful? He’s a big, beautiful horse. He’s got that Unbridled’s Song gray coming through from the dam’s side.”

KOSTA HRONIS, GIFT BOX, WINNER: “I was expecting big things today because John told me he had a ‘gift box’ for me, for Christmas.
“John was pointing for this all along so this was always the target. John knew what he had and he was really happy when he got him. He’s been working well and he loves it here. Sadler is doing his magic again.
“This is a nice place to run. I think he likes the west coast and John Sadler makes a difference, no doubt.
“We’ve loved him since we got him. He’s a big strong guy. He levels off good and he’s a pro. He’s very seasoned. He had second-it is back east but I think we pushed him over the hump.
“He won’t run in the Pegasus. He’ll stay here and run in the Santa Anita stakes races. We’ll let Accelerate do his thing at the Pegasus all by himself.

NOTES: The winning owners are Hronis Racing, LLC.

About Us
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.

ABOUT THE STRONACH GROUP
The Stronach Group is North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, home of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; XpressBet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.