Hard Aces, never in a hurry to start a race, hopes to have a lot of finish in the Gold Cup

If racehorses were renamed based on their tendencies, Hard Aces might answer to Starts Slowly.

His career began sluggishly, with one win in 10 starts while languishing on the maiden, claiming and allowance levels.

His customary running pattern is leisurely out of the gate, then gangbusters late. In the Gold Cup two years ago, Hard Aces went from worst (after a quarter-mile) in the field of 11 to first.

Even his daily routine suggests that the 7-year-old is no equine version of a morning person. Timed workouts at daybreak barely hint at the success shown in afternoon races.

“Doesn’t waste a lot of energy” in the a.m., trainer John Sadler put it diplomatically. “He’s no real buzzsaw.”

Hard Aces qualifies as a hard knocker — a hale, resilient type who is hardly tiptoeing into senior citizenhood.The Gold Cup on Saturday at Santa Anita will mark his 41st outing, with 15 of them — all in the rarefied air of graded stakes — transpiring within the past 16 1/2 months.

“He just thrives on staying busy and running,” Sadler said. “He’s been a hundred percent sound since we’ve had him.”

Trainers hold a special fondness for horses who avoid ailments and bounce back promptly from races. Among the contingent of thoroughbreds in his barn, Sadler reserves stall No. 1, closest to his office, for a teacher’s pet. There resides Hard Aces (who has eight wins, nine seconds and six thirds in 40 races), an agreeable dweller provided he is plied with a steady supply of peppermints.

“I like having him there,” Sadler said. “He’s never been demoted.”

The match was made when Hronis Racing, with which Sadler trains, acquired Hard Aces by private sale in early 2015. To round out their stable, the owners sought an older male who could negotiate two turns on the dirt and fell so hard for Hard Aces that they paid “sticker price” with no haggling, said Kosta Hronis.

“If you look at it today, we got a bargain,” Hronis said. “He has definitely surpassed our expectations, no doubt about it.

“We kind of describe him as a tough old boot. Nothing fancy about him, but he shows up every time.”

Hard Aces memorably validated the handoff to Hronis Racing at this event in 2015, swooping in from the clouds to catch Hoppertunity by a nose at the wire.

In 17 starts since, he has been escorted to the winner’s circle only twice, both after going a mile and a half. Hronis acknowledges that the Gold Cup’s 1 1/4-mile distance might be shorter than ideal.

However, such marathon-like races are scarce. (Scarcer still are those that extend to 1 3/4-miles, an ordeal that Hard Aces managed at Santa Anita last November, placing third.)

Long commutes to race are not an option. Hard Aces has displayed signs of jet lag while carrying the Hronis colors, having wound up no better than sixth in his three efforts in other time zones.

Yet, even if the Gold Cup does not offer the preferred distance, Hard Aces’ connections can take heart in that he is the lone entrant who can build a win streak of two.

He is not the elder in the field, a distinction that goes to Big John B at age 8. However, the Phil D’Amato trainee is a slacker by comparison, having raced only six times dating to the second day of last year.

Hard Aces needs no prodding into the starting gate. “We’ve kind of let him make his own schedule,” Hronis said of the slow starter who seems in no hurry to reach the career finish line.

sports@latimes.com