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Crystal Water Stakes
Grinning Tiger roars to an upset victory in the Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita
LONGSHOT POUNCES GRINNING ALL THE WAY TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE BY EMILY SHIELDS
T
he June 6 card at Santa Anita Park had a lot to ofer: Grade 1 races for both 3-year-olds and older horses, a grade 2 event for sophomore fllies, and a pair of California-bred stakes on the grass. Grinning Tiger arguably stole the show when he upset the $101,500 Crystal Water Stakes in a 92-1 shocker. Te Crystal Water, named for the venerable Golden State runner who won fve grade 1 events in California, was for California-bred or -sired runners going a mile on the turf. Te feld included grade 2 winner Prince Earl, grade 3 winner Ward ’n Jerry, and
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multiple stakes winner Lieutenant Dan. Ten there was Grinning Tiger. Te 5-year-old son of Smiling Tiger—Karlee’s Kitten, by Pioneering, had seven wins to his name, but his best stakes eforts had been at Portland Meadows in 2017. Claimed at Turf Paradise for $10,000 in February 2019, Grinning Tiger was shipped to California to revive his career. New owner Tyree Wolesensky put Grinning Tiger in training with Anthony Saavedra, who quickly fell in love with the chestnut gelding. “He’s like a puppy dog 99% of the time, but he gets scared really easily when he hears noises,” Saavedra said. “He can hear a toilet fushing in the bathroom and just explodes. He jumps, then a minute later is walking like a pony again. We started putting cotton in his ears a few months ago, and that really helped him a lot.” After winning a pair of 2019 allowance optional claiming races at Los Alamitos, Grinning Tiger started taking on stakes competition once more. Losses in the
CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED ❙ July 2020 ❙ www.ctba.com
$202,500 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T) and the $196,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G2) were a big step up from his victories in races such as the $11,000 Willamette River Stakes and the $16,400 Bill Wineberg Stakes, but Saavedra continued to have faith in the gelding. “I did think he could win, believe it or not,” Saavedra said. “Until you try two turns with a horse of that caliber, you just don’t know. I wanted to try it against easier horses, but I couldn’t get the opportunity.” Saavedra entered Grinning Tiger in fve diferent routes, but nothing flled. “He had been training like a route horse,” said the trainer. “He just keeps going and going and doing it easy. We thought if we could get an easy lead, he’d be tough.” Saavedra got his wish when jockey Heriberto Figueroa guided Grinning Tiger to the front end from the start of the Crystal Water, then cantered through fractions of :47.73 and 1:12.11. Turning for home, Lieutenant Dan and stakes winner Brandothebartender tried to run him down, but Grinning Tiger kept going and hit the line 13⁄4 lengths in front in 1:35.75. He paid $186.00 for a $2 win ticket. “We had a lot of faith,” Saavedra said. “He fnally got to show it.” It was the eighth win in 27 starts for Grinning Tiger, who has four seconds and a third with earnings of $209,801. He is one of three foals to race out of the winning Pioneering mare Karlee’s Kitten; all three have won. Te late Pat Cosgrove bred Grinning Tiger with his wife, Janet. Now that Grinning Tiger has proved his mettle against the best in his division, Saavedra has options. “He really likes Los Alamitos,” said Saavedra, who might also try the California Dreamin’ Stakes at Del Mar with the gelding. “He galloped out so strongly that I feel like he should be able to go even farther with the right pace scenario.”
