Snow Chief Goes Hollywood, Skips St. Paul

Snow Chief, who won the Preakness Stakes and the Jersey Derby, will not run in the $300,000 St. Paul Derby at Canterbury Downs, and will instead run in the Silver Screen Handicap at Hollywood Park.

After skipping the Belmont Stakes, the 3-year-old colt had been expected to run in the June 29 St. Paul Derby, which is the biggest event in the history of the 2-year-old track located in this suburb about 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

“We have been informed that Hollywood Park has raised the purse for the $100,000-added Silver Screen to $200,000 and added another $200,000 if the race is won by the winner of a Triple Crown race in order to keep Snow Chief in California,” Canterbury Downs President Brooks Fields said. “We, of course are extremely disappointed in the turn of events. . . . We had every reason to believe that he would be here.”

The Silver Screen is July 5, and Snow Chief’s handlers don’t want to run the colt in two races so close together.