Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
‘Sensational’ work for Gift Box
ARCADIA, Calif. – Gift Box, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on April 6, is nearing his second start of 2019 in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 27 in peak form, trainer John Sadler said.
Saturday, Gift Box worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 over a track that has not been producing fast times, prompting Sadler to describe the work as “sensational.”
Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Gift Box is expected to be favored in the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, which is run at 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Big Cap. Gift Box won the Big Cap by a nose over McKinzie, who returned to win the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths at Churchill Downs on May 3.
McKinzie is a candidate for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park on June 8, trainer Bob Baffert said last week.
Gift Box is unbeaten in two starts since joining Sadler’s stable last year, having also won the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26. After the Gold Cup, Sadler is hopeful Gift Box will run in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 17 and the Breeders’ Cup Classic here on Nov. 2.
“I think he’s better for this since the last two,” Sadler said, looking toward the Gold Cup at Santa Anita. “I feel like we’re on a good calendar.”
Last year, Hronis Racing and Sadler swept the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Pacific Classic, and BC Classic with Accelerate, the champion older male of 2018.
The Gold Cup at Santa Anita is one of three Grade 1 races on the May 27 program, along with the $500,000 Shoemaker Mile on turf and the $500,000 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
The Shoemaker Mile is expected to be led by Ohio and Catapult, the first two finishers of the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on March 30. The Gamely Stakes field is expected to include the multiple graded stakes winners Rymska and Vasilika.
Sunday, Vasilika worked six furlongs on the infield training track in 1:17.20 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
Paradise Woods fires bullet
Paradise Woods, the easy winner of the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes on April 27, worked five furlongs in a quick 1:00.60 on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Trainer John Shirreffs said Paradise Woods is a candidate for the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares on June 1.
Paradise Woods was ridden by jockey Mike Smith in Sunday’s workout, the fastest of 42 works at the distance.
“I thought she relaxed really nicely,” Shirreffs said.
Paradise Woods, 5, won the Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles by 10 1/2 lengths under Smith for her first stakes win since September 2017 and first since joining the Shirreffs stable in December. Paradise Woods was previously trained by Richard Mandella.
Owned by Steve Sarkowsky and Marty and Pam Wygod, Paradise Woods has won 4 of 14 starts and earned $945,890.
Trainer Don Warren dies at 67
Don Warren, who trained the champion Acclamation earlier this decade, died early Thursday, Santa Anita’s publicity department announced on Friday.
Warren was 67 and had been in declining health, which led to his retirement from training in the summer of 2015.
“He had been taking pain medication for a degenerative back disease, which caused his kidneys to shut down,” Rhonda Schiewe, Warren’s sister, told Santa Anita publicity.
Born in Covina, Calif., Warren began working on the backstretch in 1969 and started working for the Johnston family’s Old English Rancho as an exercise rider in 1970. Warren began training for Old English Rancho in 1974 and worked there for more than 40 years, until his retirement.
Warren’s first stakes win came at Turf Paradise in 1977 and his first six-figure win came in the 1984 Valkyr Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Acclamation, the champion older male of 2011, was by far Warren’s finest runner. He won 11 of 30 starts and $1,958,048. Owned primarily by Old English Rancho, Acclamation won his last seven starts. He won six Grade 1 races: the 2011 Pacific Classic at Del Mar; consecutive runnings of the Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar in 2011 and 2012; and three straight runnings of the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Hollywood Park from 2010 to 2012.
Survivors include his wife, Patty; daughters Amanda, Jennifer, and Diana; and a brother, the retired jockey Ron Warren Jr. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to the California Retirement Management Account for retired Thoroughbreds.