ARCADIA, Calif. (May 24, 2025) – Santa Barbarian, the longest shot in the field at 43-1, reeled in Cali Cat in deep stretch to win Saturday’s $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes, presented by City National Bank, for Golden State Series-eligible 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.
Santa Barbarian is by Bodexpress, out of the Storm Victory mare Ebony Cat, was bred by owner Richard Barton Enterprises and is trained by Ryan Hanson. He was the third winner on the card for the breeder.
Ridden by Kazushi Kimura, 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. 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.
Santa Barbarian, a $19,000 buyback at the Fasig-Tipton California Yearling Sale, has two wins in five starts and earnings of $113,260, coming off the May 9 maiden win. He ran for a $32,000 tag two races back.
Santa Barbarian ran the 1 1/18 miles on turf in 1:49.80 and won by one-half length over Cali Cat, with Got Soul third in a field of eight.