Gold Rush

$250,000 Cal National Snow Chief Stakes
HARLENE

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Apr. 27, 2008) - Longshot Harlene broke his maiden with a stunning rail run to win Sunday’s $250,000 Cal National Snow Chief Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds, the feature event on the $1.31 million Gold Rush card at Hollywood Park.

Harlene is by Decarchy, out of the Chief’s Crown mare Tiara Glow, was bred by Magali Ventures, foaled at Magali Farms, is owned by Claimboxdotcom, Royce Jaime Stable and W C Racing, is trained by Doug O’Neill and was ridden by Michael Baze, who had two winners earlier on the card. Harlene is a half-brother to the stakes-placed Hockey the General.

"That was truly unbelievable,"said O’Neill. "He’s always trained like a horse that the distance wouldn’t be a problem. And, though it was a little ambitious to run a maiden against winners, it was restricted to Cal-breds, it was 3-year-olds only, we thought we’d take a chance. That’s the beauty of this game. You take a chance and every now and then you can have a moment like that."

The $29,000 Barretts purchase, who added blinkers for his stakes debut, was making his seventh start and had never finished better than third. He was coming off an eighth-place finish in an Apr. 5 maiden special weight race.

"Come time to run, I was on the inside and I wasn’t sure with so many horses that he could get through," said Baze. "But as horses came out for room, I was able to come through."

The $150,000 first-place purse was nearly five times his previous earnings of $33,560. He ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.96 and won by a neck at odds of 33-1.

Dewey’s Special finished second and maiden One Chin Again was third in the field of 13.

"He ran too good to lose," said Dewey’s Special jockey, Jose Valdivia Jr. "He may have pulled himself up, that’s what it felt like because even on the gallop he was in front."

For Harlene’s pedigree, click http://www.pedigreequery.com/harlene2.