Slim Shadey stands up for owner Cunningham
Report: USA, Saturday
Santa Anita: San Marcos Stakes (Grade 2) 1m2f, turf, 4yo+
BRITISH connections enjoyed a notable success on Saturday when former Stan Moore-trained Slim Shadey (Simon Callaghan/David Flores) benefited from a canny ride up front to beat a strong-looking field of Californian turfers.
The four-year-oldwas fourth in Frankel's Guineas for owner-breeder Phil Cunningham in both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas before being switched to expat British trainer Callaghan in the States, where he was landing his second victory after an allowance success.
Sent off nearly a 12-1 shot, the son of Val Royal just held on by a head from the fast-finishing Utopian in a $150,000 event where odds-on favourite Sanagas was last of six.
Simon Callaghan: winning trainer
PICTURE: Mark Cranham"We planned on being on the lead and wanted to get him to relax," said Callaghan, 28. "David gave him an absolutely perfect ride.
"The horse was training really good," he added. "I thought he was in tough today but when you can go to the front and have tactical speed like him, it's good. There was no real pace in the race and David just gave him a perfect ride. It's nice when the plans come off."
Flores was well pleased. "Last time he came off the pace and he ran excellent," said the jockey. "Today it was a stake and nobody had speed so we decided to take a chance and take the lead.
"I believe this horse is getting better with every race," he added. "The last race he showed a lot and he showed even more today. I'm very pleased with this guy and I hope to see him more often.
"I really love to ride for people like Simon Callaghan because he's a nice guy and very humble. The older guys are going, so I hope we get more guys like him around here."
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