Santa Anita: Santa Barbarian pulls off 43-1 upset in Snow Chief

Following a 13-1 upset to break his maiden May 9 at Santa Anita, Santa Barbarian blew up the toteboard in an even bigger way Saturday when he scored at 43-1 in the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds bred or sired in California going 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Ridden by Kazushi Kimura for trainer Ryan Hanson, Santa Barbarian was last early, ranged into mid-pack down the backstretch and then ran down leader Cali Cat (2-1) inside the final furlong to win by a half-length. Got Soul (9-2) finished third with Drop Um (15-1) completing the superfecta.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

A Bodexpress gelding, Santa Barbarian is campaigned by owner-breeder Richard Barton. He won with a time of 1:49.80.

For Kimura, the win capped a lucrative day. He also won the Fran’s Valentine Stakes aboard Sneaker ($6.60) for trainer George Papaprodromou and the eighth race, an allowance optional claimer, with No Cap ($16.40) for trainer Brian Koriner.

“I knew I had some good shots today,” said Kimura, 25, a native of Japan. “I just ended up with three winners which is great. I’m happy with that.” 

As for Santa Barbarian, he went winless in his first three starts which included a pair of maiden claimers, but then he graduated May 9 upsetting Cal-breds at a mile on turf.

“I don’t know if there was a whole lot of confidence, but the horse ran a good race, and team Barton deserves a lot of the credit here,” Hanson said.  “Dick wanted to take a shot. When you have owners that really believe in you and the horses, it is really good.”

Santa Barbarian paid $89.20, $27.00 and $11.20. Cali Cat, ridden by Juan Hernández for trainer John Sadler, returned $4.20 and $3.00. Got Soul, with Armando Ayuso up for trainer Andy Mathis, paid $3.20.

The upset by Santa Barbarian led to just one winning ticket in the $2 Pick 6, which paid $107,818.