Snow Chief Stakes
1 1/8 Mile Turf Stake Purse $150.000 Open 3 Year Olds Foaled In CA.

1st      Angel Code      Smokey Stover     Gutierrez Mario

There were several things about this race that made the result pretty obvious within two furlongs. Firstly in these small fields the races tend to be repeated over and over and front runners rarely prevail so the winner tends to come from those in second third or fourth. Secondly when a field looks close in ability it is very often the most successful stables that end up being successful so it is safe to say this race went pretty much like a lot of other small field stakes races.
To be fair to this one he did look one the best in the race before the off and as soon as he got the desired position he was going to be hard to beat. I would like to have seen him run away a bit more and he was getting a bit leg weary at the end but nevertheless in only his sixth start he is making nice progress and looks above average.

2nd    Suspect        Arindel         Gonzalez Ru

I loved the ridiculous odds the odds monkeys put next to this ones name before the off and took full advantage with the 100/1 odds of the exacta. He went to the front which can be a death sentence in these small fields but i was very impressed at how he fought on to try and break a growing trend. He was so brave in defeat that i feel he has a bright future despite a very heavy campaign so far.

3rd       Applejack      Allinthegate        Cedillo A

It is true that trailers are closing better than they did originally on this engine but rarely do we see any, especially in these repeated small fields, that get to the front in time. This gelding ran on really well but never looked like making it and had to settle for a black book performance in third. If the trainer can find some early pace to just get him int that second group he may have a good race in him.

4th       Shalaa     Rock Creek    Hernandez J J

With a little over a length covering all the runners it is hard to say any horses didn’t run well although you do get the impression that this one will get better over even further than 9 furlongs.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded