Santa Barbarian And Kimura Spring 43-1 Upset In The Snow Chief Stakes Presented By City National Bank For 3-Year-Olds Bred Or Sired In California Saturday At Santa Anita

__SANTA BARBARIAN AND KIMURA SPRING 43-1 UPSET IN THE SNOW CHIEF STAKES PRESENTED BY CITY NATIONAL BANK FOR 3-YEAR-OLDS BRED OR SIRED IN CALIFORNIA SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA __

Longshot win leads to $107,818 payout in $2 Pick 6, $22,186 carryover in the Super High 5 for Sunday

ARCADIA, CA (May 24, 2025)—Following a 13-1 upset to break his maiden May 9 at Santa Anita, Santa Barbarian blew up the tote board in an even bigger way Saturday when scoring at 43-1 in the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes presented by City National Bank for 3-year-olds bred or sired in California going 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Ridden by Kazushi Kimura for trainer Ryan Hanson, Santa Barbarian was last early, ranged up into mid-pack down the backstretch, then ran down leader Cali Cat (2-1) inside the final furlong to beat that rival by a half-length. Got Soul (9-2) finished third with Drop Um (15-1) completing the superfecta.

A 3-year-old gelding by Bodexpress, Santa Barbarian is campaigned by owner-breeder Richard Barton. He won in a time of 1:49.80.

For Kimura, the win capped a lucrative day at the office. He also won the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes aboard Sneaker ($6.60) for trainer George Papaprodromou and the eighth race, an allowance/optional claimer, with No Cap ($16.40) for trainer Brian Koriner.

“I knew I had some good shots today,” said Kimura, a 25-year-old native of Japan. “I just ended up with three winners which is great. I’m happy with that.”

As for Santa Barbarian, he went winless in his first three starts—which included a pair of maiden claimers—but then graduated May 9 when upsetting open statebreds at a mile on turf.

“I don’t know if there was a whole lot of confidence, but the horse ran a good race and team Barton deserves a lot of the credit here,” Hanson said. “Dick wanted to take a shot. When you have owners that really believe in you and the horses it is really good.”

Santa Barbarian paid $89.20, $27.00 and $11.20. Cali Cat, ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer John Sadler, returned $4.20 and $3.00. Got Soul, with Armando Ayuso up for trainer Andy Mathis, paid $3.20.

The upset by Santa Barbarian led to just one winning ticket in the $2 Pick Six, which paid $107,818. In addition, it spurred a carryover in the $1 Super High 5 Sunday of $22,186. The Super High 5 is offered on the final race each day, which on Sunday will be the 10th race at 5:38 p.m. PT.