Crimson Giant Completes Trifecta Again

Crimson Giant finished third for the 11th time in his career of 50 starts Thursday, beaten a neck for second and 4 ½ lengths for first as the longest shot in the sixth race at 40-1.

It marked the eighth time the 5-year-old Formal Gold gelding had run this meet since Dec. 28. “He should have been an easy second,” said Charlie Stutts, who trains the California-bred chestnut. “But he wasn’t gonna beat the winner.”

Crimson Giant, owned and bred by Bryan Carney, picked up $6,960 for his third-place finish, giving him $32,738 for his nine starts this meet. He shows only a maiden victory, but the 72-year-old Stutts sees the glass as half full.

“He runs good every time,” said Stutts, a trainer since his teens who won his first race with Committed at Arlington Park circa 1960. “One of these days, he’s going to win.”

If not Crimson Giant, perhaps it will be his sister, a 2-year-old filly out of Crimson Giant’s dam, Mia Lena. “His sister comes to my barn tomorrow,” Stutts said. “You’ll see her in one of those 2-year-old races here next month, against boys or girls, it doesn’t matter.”