ARCADIA, Calif. – Shady Tiger is a sprinter who had never run in a route. So it makes upside-down sense he would win a turf route named for a horse, Snow Chief, that never ran on turf.
It happened Saturday at Santa Anita, where Shady Tiger won the $127,500 Snow Chief Stakes under jockey Juan Hernandez. The win validated trainer Phil D’Amato’s belief that two turns was within range for Shady Tiger, who was stretching out from three sprint wins.
“He’s a big, scopy horse,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “I always wanted to stretch him out, I always thought that’s what he wanted to do.”
Shady Tiger wanted it in the Snow Chief, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for Cal-bred 3-year-olds named for the 1986 Santa Anita Derby winner and 3-year-old champion, whose 13 for 24 lifetime record was exclusively dirt. Up until Saturday, Shady Tiger was exclusively a sprinter.
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But he was a fast sprinter, and Hernandez let him use his weapon. Shady Tiger set or pressed the pace inside, hounded throughout by Stolen Treasure. Shady Tiger got the best of his pace rival in deep stretch, and won by a half-length over late-runner Two by Four. Stolen Treasure held third.
Shady Tiger, a Smiling Tiger gelding owned by breeder Rusty Brown, paid $6.60 as the second choice in the betting.
The fourth- through 10th-place finishers were Size Does Matter, Final Storm, Takes Three, disappointing favorite Curlin’s Kaos, Tamarando Star, Keep Movin’ On and Stay on the fence.
While the fourth straight victory by Shady Tiger invites the possibility for future two-turn races, D’Amato will cut him back to one turn for his next start. That will be Aug. 2 in the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for California-bred 3-year-olds.
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