Old Pal breaks his maiden at second asking March 25 (Benoit Photo)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.— Lightly raced but well at home on turf, Mark Glatt’s Old Pal appears a solid fit in his first stakes assignment as a field of seven sophomores try a mile and one eighth over the Santa Anita lawn in the $150,000 Snow Chief Stakes on Sunday.
Named for one of the greatest California-breds of all-time and a winner of both the 1986 Santa Anita Derby and Preakness Stakes, the Snow Chief is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for eligible California-bred or sired horses.
Snow Chief, who was crowned Eclipse Champion 3-year-old colt for 1986 and who banked more than $3.3 million, was trained by the late Melvin F. Stute and Santa Anita is honored to have his widow Annabelle Stute present Sunday’s trophy.
In a race in which nobody has been beyond a flat mile on dirt or turf, Old Pal, a dazzling 3 ½ length one-mile turf winner two starts back on March 25 and a horse who was striding out well late when third, beaten two lengths at the same trip in a statebred allowance here on April 21, should have plenty of speed to run at with leading man Juan Hernandez aloft.
A chestnut colt by Grazen out of the English Channel mare Athina Lee, Old Pal is owned by Blinkers On Racing Stable, Carolyn Corbett, Jai Desai, Frederick Dizonno, et al. Heavily favored in all three of his starts, he’s got a win, a second and a third place finish and earnings of $61,160.
Second, beaten a half length in the same one mile turf allowance Old Pal finished third in on April 21, trainer Brian Koriner’s speedy Boss Sully, who will also be making his fourth start on Sunday and will be ridden for the third time in a row by Hector Berrios.
Owned by Rusty Brown and Alan Klein, Boss Sully was an impressive 2 ¾ length maiden winner versus statebreds going 5 ½ furlongs as the 1-2 favorite on March 18 and was off at 5-2 in his first two turn race on April 21.
A chestnut colt by Street Boss out of the Candy Ride mare Eternally, Boss Sully figures to have theft on his mind as he tries stakes company for the first time.
A bay colt by Distorted Humor out of the Bernardini mare English Garden, Clouseau, in his best performance to date he registered an emphatic 3 ¼ length main track allowance win versus statebreds in gate-to-wire fashion in his sixth career start on May 5.
A non-factor in two tries on turf, a fourth place finish in his six furlong maiden debut Oct. 16 and in a sixth place effort in his first start going one mile on Nov. 18, Clouseau is nonetheless a horse on the improve and fits nicely in what will be his second stakes assignment.
A winner of three out of his last four starts, all with regular rider Geovanni Franco, Clouseau is owned by ISK Racing Stable, Inc., Rebekah and Tom Lawless, Frank and Karen Lewkowitz and Doug Hames.
Third, beaten 6 ¼ lengths by highly regarded Kangaroo Court two starts back going 6 ½ furlongs on dirt in the statebred Echo Eddie Stakes on April 8, Clouseau has three wins and a third from six starts and earnings of $143,360.
THE $150,000 SNOW CHIEF WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 8 of 10 – Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT
- Old Pal—Juan Hernandez—120
- Boss Sully—Hector Berrios—120
- Clouseau—Geovanni Franco—122
- Upward Mobility—Ramon Vazquez—120
- Be Punctual—Mario Gutierrez—120
- Tom and Jazzy—Antonio Fresu—120
- Hacking It Up—Umberto Rispoli—124
First post time for a 10-race card on Gold Rush Day, Sunday is at 1 p.m. with admission gates opening at 11 a.m. The Snow Chief is one of five stakes for California-bred or sired horses.
