Midcourt's mood will determine Big Cap pace scenario

ARCADIA, Calif. – The strategy should be determined in the opening furlong of Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles. By then, jockey Victor Espinoza will know whether Midcourt will take his familiar position near the front, or run from off the pace.

“Victor said he waits for him to make his choice,” trainer John Shirreffs said.

When Midcourt leads, he has been outstanding, winning two graded stakes at 1 1/8 miles – the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 23, and the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes here on Feb. 1 in his final prep for the $600,000 Big Cap.

“When he gets in his rhythm, that’s him,” Espinoza said.

Midcourt closed from last of five to win the Comma to the Top Stakes at a mile here in October, his first stakes win. The only blemish in recent months was a well-beaten third to Gift Box in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles here on Dec. 28 when he was last early.

Gift Box, who won the Big Cap last April, is the 126-pound topweight on Saturday, carrying three pounds more than Midcourt. Those two figure to dominate the betting in a field of eight in the richest race of the track’s winter-spring meeting for older horses.

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Gift Box, a 7-year-old owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, has not raced since the San Antonio Stakes. Trainer John Sadler insists he is cool with a 10-week gap between starts.

“We’re ready to go,” Sadler said. “I feel like we’re well prepared.

“He’s an older horse and the spacing is good. It gives him plenty of time to recover. He’s not a run back every two weeks kind of horse.”

Gift Box won the San Antonio Stakes from the front. In the 2019 Big Cap, Gift Box was always near the lead and won a thrilling stretch duel with McKinzie.

“He’s versatile,” Sadler said of Gift Box.

The San Antonio was Gift Box’s first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs last June. Sadler is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive win in the Big Cap, having won the 2018 running with Hronis Racing’s Accelerate.

Sadler also starts Combatant, who closed from seventh to finish third in the San Pasqual in his first start for the stable. Combatant was 18th behind Justify in the 2018 Kentucky Derby when trained by Steve Asmussen.

Midcourt, who races for Lee Searing’s CRK Stables, was fourth and seventh in two starts at 2, both for trainer Peter Eurton, in 2017. Midcourt did not race in 2018 and was sent to Shirreffs for the resumption of his career in 2019. Midcourt has since won 5 of 7 starts.

“It’s consistency,” Shirreffs said of the success. “He has the talent.”

The Big Cap will be Midcourt’s first start at 1 1/4 miles, an issue that does not concern Shirreffs. In the San Pasqual, Midcourt won by 3 1/2 lengths over Two Thirty Five, who is part of the Big Cap field.

“We feel good about everything,” Shirreffs said.

The race drew two runners from the East Coast – Endorsed and Hofburg. Both have been assigned 115 pounds.

Endorsed, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, was fourth in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga last August in his final start of the year. Endorsed won his 2020 debut at Gulfstream Park in a Jan. 11 allowance race with a $62,500 claiming price at 1 1/16 miles. He is a threat from off the pace.

Hofburg, trained by Bill Mott, is a minor stakes winner who was third in the 2018 Belmont Stakes. Hofburg won his only start last year, an optional claimer at Saratoga in July, and was seventh of nine as the 7-2 third choice in the Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 15 after a wide trip.

Hofburg is also a closer, and he will have the task of catching two local runners in Gift Box and Midcourt who are both in good form.

While the Big Cap struggles to draw leading horses early in the year with competition from lucrative races in Florida, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, Espinoza is eager to try for his third Big Cap win, and first since Accelerate in 2018.

“It’s still $600,000,” Espinoza said. “It means something, too. I’d like to win that.”