Stute Credits Writer for his Success

Snow Chief, the great Cal-bred who won the Santa Anita Derby in 1986 by six lengths and was favored to win the Kentucky Derby but didn’t, went on to earn an Eclipse Award that year as the nation’s outstanding 3-year-old.

Santa Anita honors Snow Chief Saturday with the running of the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf. No one could be prouder than retired trainer Mel Stute, who conditioned the colt, also winner of both the Preakness and the Jersey Derby during his 3-year-old campaign.

“His best race was the Santa Anita Derby,” said the 86-year-old Stute, “He won it by six lengths; California Chrome only won it by 5 ¼.”

When asked if Snow Chief was the horse that put him on the map, Stute’s response was quick and firm. “No, no, no,” he said. “The guy who put me on the map was Jim Murray, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

“In a column, he compared me to all the great baseball mangers. He said, ‘Today, Mel Stute feels like Casey Stengel. He’s got the favorite for the Derby. He doesn’t have Joe DiMaggio or anybody to pinch hit.’

“I think I won nine stakes before he wrote that article. In the next two years, I won 37 stakes. It was that article that made the difference.”

The field for the Snow Chief: Frensham, Mario Gutierrez; Alert Bay, Tyler Baze; Aotearoa, Mike Smith; Awesome Return, Joe Talamo; Kukaluka, Victor Espinoza; Tamarando, Rafael Bejarano; Pray Hard, Corey Nakatani; and Patriots Rule, Fernando Perez.