LOS ALAMITOS, CA—AUGUST 30, 2010—Snitcher’s talents are no longer a secret - not after his performance in the $25,000 Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap for 3-year-olds on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

Racing from post five and ridden by Francisco Rubio, Snitcher posted his second stakes win in a row while covering the 350-yards in the Sgt Pepper Feature in near track record time. The son of Tr Dasher stopped the clock in :17.081, only 2/100ths of a second from the current mark held by Abigail Kawananakoa’s Divide The Cash of :17.061 set earlier this year.

“The fast time gives you hope and makes you dream of bigger races,” said owner Armando Leon, who has raced Quarter Horse at Los Alamitos for more than a decade now. “He could have had the track record tonight, but I’m fine with him not breaking it. What I want is for him to make money. Our goal with him is the Grade 1 Southern California Derby. I wish he was in the Los Alamitos Super Derby, but we missed the chance to supplement him into that race.”

“I stopped (Armando) from paying the penalty to get him in the Super Derby,” said trainer Adan Farias while shaking his head. “At the time he was coming off a couple of loses and I wanted him to show us more. He has been solid in his last two races. He was great tonight.”

Bred by Ed Allred, Snitcher was purchased privately from Allred in the spring of 2010. In his first start for Farias, Snitcher ran second to Regal Tol in an allowance race and then finished fourth to Golden State Derby fastest qualifier Chivalry Sr. Snitcher found his winning stride for Leon and Farias on California Breeders Champions Night as he posted a ¾ length victory over the aforementioned Regal Tol. That win combined with this effort has elevated Snitcher’s star potential to new heights. Will the connections stick with their Southern California Derby plan or will they consider running him in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials for a chance to go in the Champion of Champions?

“There’s Freaky in the Champion of Champions,” Leon said. “If you have a horse that running well at this level, why push him to run against horses at the next level. Freaky is a great horse right now, I think our horse has the potential to do some nice things next year when he turns four. He’s a young horse right now.”

“I’m trying to keep them from running against each other,” Farias said. “We are going to point Chivalry Sr to the Los Alamitos Super Derby trials after missing out in the Golden State Derby. He got on the vet’s list after the Golden State trials so we have to take care of that first. I’ll be working him pretty soon. He is doing fine and looking good right now.”

Snitcher won the Sgt Pepper Feature by 1 ¼ lengths over multiple stakes winner Sparky E Boy, who is now also under the care of Farias. Snitcher earned $13,750 and has now made over $47,000 in his career.

“This is only my first year with Adan,” said Leon. “I used to live in the San Fernando Valley, but I recently moved to about five minutes from Los Alamitos. I wanted to be near the track so that I could be closer to my horse business. I’m a horse breeder. That’s my profession. I have a few horses here in the United States, but in Mexico I have about 60 broodmares in a ranch in the state of Sinaloa. My place is where a lot f the big Mexican breeders have their ranches and people like the Vegas of Rancho El Alacran have their ranches in that same area. The soil is very rich in that part of the country. It’s a great place to grow alfalfa.”

Reed Pierson’s Sparky E Boy earned $5,625 for running second. Forrest Fire, Corona Street, Clark N Eye and Kr Dragonfly completed the field.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com