Attentive to the pace throughout, longshot Jimmy Blue Jeans was all heart late as he held off heavily favored None Above the Law by a neck June 19 to win the $152,000 Snow Chief Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
Trained by Golden Gate Fields-based Andy Mathis and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Jimmy Blue Jeans finished 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:48.69. He races for Perry Bruno, John Gezon, and Robert Jones. Bruno and Gezon bred the 3-year-old son of James Street in California out of the Marino Marini mare Blue Blizzard.
This is the first black-type winner for James Street, a grade 2-winning son of El Prado who stood the 2021 season at Blue Diamond Horseshoe in California for an advertised fee of $10,000.
"This is the biggest race I've won yet," said Bruno, who made the trip with an entourage from his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. "It's like surreal, it's so good, it's like a dream. I'm just a small guy who owns a couple of mares with my partner, John Gezon."
Jimmy Blue Jeans rated second, just off the hip of early pacesetter Found My Ball, as that rival set fractions of :23.06, :47.60, and 1:11.86 before yielding. Jimmy Blue Jeans took command a sixteenth of a mile from home and was all out to preserve the win.
Ridden by Flavien Prat, None Above the Law was mid-pack most of the trip, had to wait for room between horses turning for home, and flew late to just miss. Ferrariano finished a nose back in third.
"I only spoke to the assistant (trainer) and he told me to just try to get him home and he'll probably be forwardly placed and just try to enjoy the ride; that's all he said," said Desormeaux, who was aboard for the first time Saturday. "This ride started two or three days ago. I was a tour guide for the owners. I had to show them where to get licensed and everything, so this is a nice omen, I think is what it is."
Well beaten by None Above the Law two starts back going one mile April 25 on the all-weather track at Golden Gate, Jimmy Blue Jeans came off a first condition allowance win May 16 going a mile on turf at Golden Gate and was sent off at odds of 15-1 in a field of nine California-bred or sired sophomores. He returned $33.40 on a $2 win ticket.
The Snow Chief, an event for eligible California-bred or -sired horses, is part of the lucrative Golden State Series sponsored by the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association.
Jimmy Blue Jeans bagged $90,000 with his first stakes score and increased his earnings to $143,646, with three wins and a third from six starts. He is the only reported foal out of Blue Blizzard, who was last reported bred in 2019.
Unexpectedly last early, Terry Lovingier's homebred Fi Fi Pharoah battled through the lane with Eddie's New Dream to win by a half length in Saturday's $150,000 Melair Stakes at Santa Anita. Trained by Walther Solis and ridden by Umberto Rispoli, Fi Fi Pharoah, a 3-year-old daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, got a mile and one sixteenth in 1:46.41.
Fi Fi Pharoah Takes Melair
Unexpectedly last early, Fi Fi Pharoah battled through the lane with Eddie's New Dream to win Saturday's $151,000 Melair Stakes by half a length.
Trained by Walther Solis and ridden by Umberto Rispoli, the 3-year-old daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah finished 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:46.41.
Fi Fi Pharoah—who had pressed the pace en route to a one-length maiden score going a flat mile May 15—was crowded leaving the gate and found herself last in a seven-horse field, about 10 lengths off the pace set by Mucha Woman. She still had just one rival beat after the frontrunner posted fractions of :23.49, :47.47, and 1:12.93, but the hot early pace would soon take its toll.
With Eddie's New Dream taking the lead at the top of the lane after racing third, Fi Fi Pharoah rallied four wide and joined the battle through a 1:39.54 mile, prevailing in a game effort.
"Last time, it worked for her with Rispoli," Solis said in reference to the winner's last-out maiden score. "I didn't think we would get beat this time. She just ran from the three-eighths, she knows when she has to speed up. When she got in front, she started waiting for everybody. She's a classy filly. I knew the filly was coming in 100%. I told Terry, 'We got the filly.'"
Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in a field of California-bred or sired 3-year-old fillies in the Melair, which is also part of the Golden State Series, Fi Fi Pharoah paid $6.00 on a $2 win ticket.
Fi Fi Pharoah notched her first stakes win for Terry Lovingier, Tom Beckerle, and Amanda Navarro, and improved her overall mark to 2-1-1 from five starts. With the winner's share of $90,000, she increased her earnings to $178,560.
"She's so lazy in the mornings, she won't give you anything until she reaches the quarter pole and takes off, so that's what I was expecting for the race," said Rispoli. "I knew the pace was on, so I stayed inside because she doesn't mind staying back until I find a nice gap. I was following Mario (Gutierrez, aboard Eddie's New Dream) until I had a chance to go into the clear."
Eddie's New Dream finished 2 1/2 lengths clear of I'm So Anna, who completed the trifecta.
Fi Fi Pharoah is a second generation homebred for Lovingier, who bred her out of his Ghostzapper mare My Fiona, a winner of multiple Cal-bred stakes and $478,743 in earnings. She is the first foal out of the mare, whose Stay Thirsty 2-year-old Finneus broke his maiden June 13 at Santa Anita. My Fiona also has a yearling Stay Thirsty colt and produced a filly by the son of Bernardini April 16. Lovingier stands Stay Thirsty at his Lovacres Ranch in Warner Springs, Calif., where the stallion's advertised fee was $10,000 stands and nurses in 2021.
