Gift Box outduels McKinzie in Santa Anita Handicap

ARCADIA, Calif.-The day after Christmas, Gift Box won his California debut in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes. At the time, there was talk from trainer John Sadler that Gift Box could have a 2019 campaign similar to stablemate Accelerate, the champion older male of 2018.

A little more than three months into the year, Gift Box is right on schedule.

Saturday at Santa Anita, Gift Box won his first start since the San Antonio Stakes with a gritty nose victory over 2-5 favorite McKinzie in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. The photo finish was difficult to call as the runners reached the finish, but Gift Box had the edge at the wire, much to the delight of Sadler, owners Pete and Kosta Hronis, and jockey Joel Rosario.

“It’s a big thrill,” Sadler said.

Accelerate won the 2018 Santa Anita Handicap when the historic race was run in March. This year’s $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap was postponed four weeks after Santa Anita stopped racing in early March to conduct inspection and renovation of the main track after a series of fatal injuries since late December. Racing resumed on March 29.

Last month, Sadler said he was tempted to start Gift Box outside of California, notably in the Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 30, but chose to stay at home.

“I could have sent this horse to Dubai, but we’re Southern Californians and we wanted to win this race,” he said.

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Gift Box ($6.20) was the second choice in a field of six and was never worse than second in the running, stalking pacesetter Prime Attraction through early fractions of 24.24 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.23 for a half-mile.

Gift Box led by a head with a quarter-mile remaining, but was quickly challenged by McKinzie, who rallied to his outside. Those two were quickly clear of their rivals. McKinzie led by a head with a furlong to go and the pair ran as a tandem through the final 100 yards.

Mike Smith aboard McKinzie was stunned his mount did not prevail.

“I thought I had him,” Smith said.

Gift Box ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.02 and earned career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102.

Rosario said that when McKinzie appeared on his outside, he appeared to have momentum to win.

“He had a tremendous run,” he said of McKinzie. “My horse kept running. My horse kept fighting. Both him and me.”

Sadler said Rosario’s urging was the difference.

“Rosario has a lot of ability to keep it going,” he said. “That was a good stretch drive.”

Mongolian Groom, a 53-1 outsider, closed from fourth to finish third. Campaign, trained by Sadler, finished fourth, followed by Prime Attraction and Prince of Arabia.

McKinzie was the 123-pound highweight, carrying one pound more than Gift Box. Mongolian Groom carried 116 pounds and was ridden by Geovanni Franco.

Gift Box, a 6-year-old horse by Twirling Candy, was purchased privately by Hronis Racing last year and transferred from trainer Chad Brown in New York.

A winner of 5 of 15 starts who has earned $879,160, Gift Box is likely to remain in Southern California this year, with races such as the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 27 and the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17 on the calendar later this spring and summer. Accelerate won both of those races in 2018 and later won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

The 2019 BC Classic is at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.