Canadian Import Fancy As Is Dressed Up, Ready to Go

Always on the prowl for a good horse, trainer Bob Baffert tried to buy Fancy As, a gelding that mopped up on most of the opposition in western Canada last year. The deal didn’t happen, but Baffert wound up with the next-best thing: the chance to train the horse.

So this is how Fancy As came to Santa Anita, and why he’ll be that rare Canadian-bred running in the Strub Stakes. The 55th edition of the Strub, which is worth $500,000, will be run Saturday, when 11 horses--the biggest field since 1986--go to the gate.

The 11/8-mile stake is the finale to a three-race series for foals of 1998 that began with Mizzen Mast’s victory in the Malibu on Dec. 26. The middle leg, the San Fernando on Jan. 12, was won by Western Pride, who’ll be back Saturday along with the four horses that ran immediately behind him. Fancy As was one of those, finishing third and losing by four lengths in his U.S. debut.

The San Fernando was run at 11/16 miles. “The extra distance [Saturday] should help him,” said Gary Stevens, who rode Fancy As for the first time in his last race. Red Smith, who owns Fancy As with his wife Linda, said that the horse might be for sale.

“Baffert offered us a fair price in early December,” he said. “But it was the end of the year and I was in a bad tax situation then. That’s why I didn’t sell. But if he runs good in this one, who knows?”

The Smiths are already ahead on Fancy As. He has won 13 races, with two seconds and one third, in 16 starts and earned $565,448. Red Smith--named for his original hair color, not after the late Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist--bought the horse for 3,200 Canadian dollars ($2,148 U.S.) at a Manitoba yearling auction. The horse was called Lucky Simba when he was led into the sales ring, but the Smiths renamed him, combining part of the dam’s name (Fancy Lucky) and the last two letters of the sire’s name (Dignitas).

Red Smith, 63, was practically out the door of the sales pavilion when he bid on Fancy As.

“I got outbid on what turned out to be the sales topper, who went for $27,000,” Smith said. “I had bought a few other horses, and I really bought this one just to fill up the trailer. He’s a real freak.”

The abbreviated past-performance lines of Fancy As would test the geographical acumen of even the most inveterate of Daily Racing Form readers. Last year, Fancy As, voted the second-best 3-year-old in Canada, rolled to eight victories in nine starts at “StP” (Stampede Park), “NP” (Northlands Park), “AsD” (Assiniboia Downs) and “Hst” Hastings Park. His only 2001 loss was a second-place finish in the Manitoba Derby in August.

“We got suckered that day,” said Smith, referring to an opening half-mile of 49 seconds in the 11/8-mile race. Rallying off that snail-like pace, Fancy As was three-quarters of a length short at the wire.

In the San Fernando, the pace was much more lively, but even though Fancy As moved up from his early sixth-place position, he was unable to threaten Western Pride through the stretch.

Western Pride, who could pass the $1-million mark with a victory in the Strub, drew the No. 5 post. The lineup, with jockeys: Giant Gentlemen, Alex Solis; Fancy As, Stevens; Palmeiro, Laffit Pincay; Mizzen Mast, Kent Desormeaux; Western Pride, Garrett Gomez; Momentum, Corey Nakatani; Scorpion, Mike Smith; Pie N Burger, Victor Espinoza; Discreet Hero, Pat Valenzuela; Orientate, Chris McCarron; and I Love Silver, Eddie Delahoussaye. Western Pride and Scorpion will carry the most weight, 123 pounds apiece, two pounds more than Mizzen Mast. Fancy As will carry 119.