By DRF.com
AUBURN, Wash. (Aug. 13, 2025) – It’s hard to poke a hole in the résumé of California-bred Si That Tiger, the Blaine Wright trainee who will be favored in Sunday’s $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby, a 1 1/16-mile stakes on the Longacres Mile undercard.
Si That Tiger is by Smiling Tiger, out of the Rosberg mare Ros’s Girl, was bred by Darlyne Krieg and is owned by Maryanski, John, Maryanski, Janene, Schneider, Gerald E. and Schneider, Gail.
He has five wins in seven starts, earnings of $114,150 and is coming off three consecutive wins, the last two in stakes.
As a 2-year-old, after losing badly in his debut, he improved rapidly to handily win two in a row, including the WTBOA Lads Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs.
According to Wright, Si That Tiger “wasn’t eligible for the next in line,” so he “had about seven weeks to try and get a 2-year-old ready for a route,” that being last year’s Gottstein Futurity. Si That Tiger wound up finishing fourth, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths, in the mile and 70-yard Gottstein, making distance the lone logical question as he routes for the second time in his career on Sunday.
“I think the horse, he’s mature, he rates good,” said Wright. “Last year, I was up against it. He’s not the most precocious work horse. I’m interested to find out if he’s up to the challenge.”
Si That Tiger’s stiffest competition in the Muckleshoot Derby should come from Bodi Zafa, who finished second in the Cinema Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on May 11. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 83 in the Cinema, second in this field only to the 86 Si That Tiger earned winning an allowance in his 3-year-old debut. It’s fair to question whether Bodi Zafa can replicate his Cinema effort on dirt, where he last earned a 44 Beyer while finishing a distant fifth to Si That Tiger in WTBOA Lads a year ago.