Snow Chief Is Given a Little Edge, Wins Hollywood Futurity

That stampede you hear is not horses, it’s a large number of trainers from Hollywood Park rushing off to their nearest tack shop to buy as many sets of blinkers as they can get their hands on.

Blinkers weren’t on many horsemen’s Christmas lists until Sunday, when Snow Chief, newly outfitted with a hood, ran off from a field of nine other 2-year-olds in the $1,172,000 Hollywood Futurity. What was supposed be a highly contentious race turned into a rout, with Snow Chief scoring a 6 1/2-length victory over Electric Blue before 30,022 fans.

After Electric Blue got his nose to the wire just before a tiring Ferdinand to take second, his jockey, Eddie Delahoussaye said what a lot of trainers are thinking.

“Maybe (trainer) Neil (Drysdale) ought to slap a pair of blinkers on my horse, too,” Delahoussaye said. “Maybe they’ll make him run straight.”

Electric Blue, running only the third race of his life after winning over maidens and in allowance company, lost some ground by not going through a tight spot along the rail and also seemed to be more interested in the crowd in the grandstand than the finish line. But as Delahoussaye conceded, it wouldn’t have made any difference. None of the other nine horses could claim an excuse in the face of the Snow Chief steamroller.

Mel Stute, who trains Snow Chief for his owners, Carl Grinstead and Ben Rochelle of Chula Vista, put blinkers on the colt for the first time in a workout last Thursday, but only after a hard sell from jockey Alex Solis.

“I’m not as brave as it sounds,” Stute said. “The horse had been goofing off and two races back, Alex mentioned blinkers. But as long as the horse was winning, you don’t like to make a change.”

In Snow Chief’s last start, however, he finished second by five lengths to Darby Fair, another Stute trainee, in the Hoist the Flag Stakes on Nov. 29 (Darby Fair ran eighth Sunday). That gave Stute his opening to follow Solis’ suggestion.

“He was running green, and I thought blinkers might correct that,” Solis said.

Even with the blinkers and a big lead halfway through the stretch, Snow Chief felt the sting of Solis’ whip several times.

“He started to look around,” Solis said. “He was playing. That’s the reason I was hitting him.”

Because Snow Chief hadn’t been nominated, Grinstead and Rochelle had to pay $50,000 to get him into the Futurity. They were not as free with their money when it came to supplementing the California-bred into the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes at Aqueduct last month.

“That would have cost $200,000,” said Grinstead, a retired electrical engineer. “The most we could have made, less expenses, would have been $250,000, because the winner’s share of the purse was $450,000. At least in the Futurity, the $50,000 you put up goes back into the purse. None of the extra money is added to the purse in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Snow Chief, who had won three stakes before the Futurity, including the important Norfolk at Santa Anita in October, earned $589,000 Sunday, boosting his career total to $935,140.

The second choice behind the filly Family Style in the wagering, Snow Chief paid $7.80, 4.60 and $3.40, running the mile in the good time of 1:34 1/5. Electric Blue’s mutuels were $7.80 and $6.60. Ferdinand paid $8.20.

Family Style was never in contention and finished sixth. She was the only horse in the field with championship aspirations; as for the 2-year-old colts, Tasso, who didn’t run Sunday, and Ogygian, who’s awaiting a Florida campaign, seem to have most of the Eclipse Awards votes locked up.

When Snow Chief met Tasso in the Del Mar Futurity in September, he finished third, beaten by 2 1/2 lengths.

“I still liked the way he ran that day,” Stute said. “He didn’t finish that far back, and it was the first time ever that he had been tried around two turns.”

Both Stute and Solis were surprised that Snow Chief was as close to the pace as he was Sunday. “I was a little worried that Alex moved with him that fast,” Stute said. “Especially when I saw that 1:09 (for the first six furlongs) up on the board. But Alex said he had no choice, the colt was just throwing him down.”

After the break from the chute, Raised on Stage held the lead for the run down the backside, but Snow Chief was nearby, about five horses wide as Solis stayed clear of a potential jam on the turn.

Snow Chief moved past Raised on Stage with ease going into the turn, then was brought over to the rail after he was clear. The others were running for second after that.

“He had been working fast,” Solis said. “I had a lot of confidence in this horse. I thought he was going to run good.”

Snow Chief will probably do his next running in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 12. Since that stake is only for California-breds, there’s not a lot of prestige attached. But the purse is $100,000. So much for prestige.

Horse Racing Notes The death of Swear, an undefeated 2-year-old colt, was the second major loss for Claiborne Farm in the last two years. Shortly after Swale won the Belmont Stakes in 1984, he died, apparently of a heart attack, at his barn at Belmont Park. Swear, who won all three of his races, including the Balboa Stakes at Del Mar in late August, died Dec. 14 of a bursted appendix after he had taken sick about two weeks before. “He could have been a real good one,” said Willard Proctor, Swear’s trainer. “Any time a horse wins every time he goes out there, you’ve got to think highly of his future.” Swear, a son of Believe It, suffered a bruised leg in the Balboa, a minor injury according to Proctor, and was back in training, probably for a campaign that would have started in early February. Proctor said that Claiborne had increased its insurance coverage on the son of Believe It after his win in the Balboa, but he didn’t know the amount. . . . Jorge Velasquez won the Gallant Fox Handicap aboard Jane’s Dilemma Sunday, giving him 54 stakes victories for the year and tying the record Chris McCarron set in 1984 . . . In other stakes Sunday at Hollywood Park, An Empress won the Heartlight No. One and Ambra Ridge captured the Straight Deal. . . . The speedster Phone Trick extended his undefeated streak to five races with a 7 1/2-length win in Sunday’s sixth race, running six furlongs in a speedy 1:08 4/5. Precisionist scratched from the race. . . . Laffit Pincay’s win with Phone Trick was his third of the day. . . . “I’ve been having a bad season, now all of a sudden it’s a good season,” trainer Gary Jones said Sunday. Not only did Jones win the Affirmed Stakes at Hollywood with Turkoman, he also scored with Capichi in the California Jockey Club Handicap at Bay Meadows. “When you get hot like that,” Jones said, “you wish there was another stake race that you could run in the same day.” Jones saddled back-to-back winners on Sunday’s card. . . . Hollywood is closed for four days, Monday through Thursday, then ends its meeting with five straight days of racing starting next Friday . . . Darrel McHargue, who’s had a tough year, suffering painful injuries at both Del Mar and Hollywood, is scheduled to resume riding Friday