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SPICED PERFECTION WINS GRADE 1 AT KEENELAND
By Emily Shields
A field of sprint stars—including a reigning Breeders’ Cup champion—wasn’t enough to stop Spiced Perfection from winning her second grade 1 race, the $300,000 Madison Stakes at Keeneland April 6.
The gutsy California-bred filly dueled with pacesetter Amy’s Challenge throughout, and the two of them threw down the gauntlet in the lane, with Spiced Perfection edging ahead, Amy’s Challenge coming back to put her nose in front, and Spiced Perfection finally, resolutely turning her away at the wire. Behind them, by 63⁄4 lengths, toiled the likes of six-time stakes winner Late Night Pow Wow in third and 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Shamrock Rose, who ran fifth.
Cal-bred Spiced Perfection, outside, betters Amy’s Challenge in Keeneland’s grade 1 Madison Stakes
The speed and grit Spiced Perfection showed are now becoming synonymous with her sire, Smiling Tiger, who stands at Harris Farms in Coalinga. A multiple grade 1-winning sprinter, Smiling Tiger now has four champions to his name in just two crops to race.
Philip Lebherz and Alan Klein’s Smiling Tiger, a son of Hold Tat Tiger—Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road, was a $40,000 purchase by trainer Jef Bonde at the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association summer yearling sale in 2008. With $1,480,704 in career earnings, Smiling Tiger has paid for himself and more.
He was always a class act for his connections, breaking his maiden at Golden Gate Fields first out on May 1, 2009, despite a rocky trip to the gate where he threw his rider several times and ran loose on the course. Despite the antics, Smiling Tiger won by six lengths.
From there, the rangy chestnut won the Lost in the Fog Stakes and finished third in the grade 1 Del Mar Futurity before going to the sidelines. He returned to win the Lazaro Barrera Memorial (G3) before defeating older horses in the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. Smiling Tiger proved himself a standout in the local sprinting division by finishing third in the $298,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes (G1) before winning the $245,000 Ancient Title Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. Smiling Tiger was third in that year’s Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
After running second by just a nose in … CONTINUE HERE
California’s leading third-crop stallion, Smiling Tiger sired Spiced Perfection, 2018 Cal-bred Horse of the Year