Gift Box targeting Pacific Classic

CYPRESS, Calif. – Gift Box, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in April, will have his next start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17, trainer John Sadler said over the weekend.

Gift Box, who is owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, was fourth as the 2-1 favorite in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 15, finishing 7 3/4 lengths behind winner Seeking the Soul.

The Pacific Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles and is the top race of the Del Mar season. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. Last year, Hronis Racing and Sadler won the Pacific Classic and BC Classic with Accelerate, the 2018 champion older male.

The Pacific Classic field is unlikely to include the multiple stakes winner McKinzie, who worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday. Trainer Bob Baffert reiterated Sunday that McKinzie is a candidate for the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 3, a race that also offers a fees-paid berth for the winner to the BC Classic.