Sise joins jet set for a day

About 160 horses and $24 million in annual purse earnings separate trainer Cliff Sise from Todd Pletcher, but on Saturday, Sise will find out what it's like to try and divide and conquer. Of the eight Sunshine Millions races to be run at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, Sise has a total of four runners in three of the stakes. He will be in two races at Gulfstream, and one at Santa Anita, heady days for a guy who is more meat and potatoes than caviar and champagne.

Sise, 55, does know his way around a food tray. He used to run a catering business near Los Angeles, around which he has sandwiched stints as a jockey and, now, a trainer. He trains a number of California-bred homebreds for people such as Marty and Pam Wygod, who bred and own three of the four runners Sise sends out in the Sunshine Millions.

Sise flew to Florida on Wednesday to oversee final preparations of the

3-year-old colts Complexity and Idiot Proof in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash and the older mare Gn. Group Meeting in the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint, both at six furlongs. His staff will be entrusted with overseeing the fine tuning of the 3-year-old filly Double Major, who runs in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Oaks at Santa Anita, also at six furlongs.

"I hope it's going to be a good day," Sise said from Florida on Wednesday morning. "Or it could be one of those days where you go home with your tail between your legs. But I think we'll have a fun day."

Double Major will be seeking to rebound from a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the filly division of the California Breeders' Champion Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 29, which followed a stylish debut win at Hollywood Park on Nov. 18.

"She lost a shoe either leaving the gate or when she tried to make the gap," Sise said. "She had an inside post. On Saturday, she's more toward the outside, so there shouldn't be a problem."

After watching the Oaks on television, Sise will hustle to the Gulfstream paddock to saddle Complexity and Idiot Proof in the Dash. Complexity is still winless after two starts, but has run well both times. He was third in the male division of the California Breeders' Champion Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

"I wanted him off the lead last time, but he ended up going head and head in 21 and change, and then when he got the lead, I think he got a little lost," Sise said. "He should be able to sit off them perfectly on Saturday. I'm going to use a ring bit on him, which should help get him back."

Idiot Proof is making his first start since June 1, when he scored a dazzling debut win against maidens at Hollywood Park, winning by 7 3/4 lengths going five furlongs.

"He had a little fracture of a tibia," Sise said of Idiot Proof's time off. "He's a runner. He's not the biggest horse, but he's a good mover. He's a trainer's dream, this horse. He's well-named. An idiot could train this horse."

Sise's final runner on the day will be Gn. Group Meeting, a late-running sprinter who has won 4 of 14 starts, including the Cat's Cradle Handicap at Hollywood Park on Nov. 24. Gn. Group Meeting, who was bred and is owned by Larry Williams, might find six furlongs a little short. She has never won at less than 6 1/2 furlongs.

"She likes a sandier track. This track," Sise said, referring to Gulfstream, "is okay for her, but I don't know if it will play for her. You usually need to lay close to the pace here. We're up against it, but she's doing good."