Later Than Planned runs by Tiger Track to take John Shear
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The $100,000 John Shear Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters was run later than scheduled this month at Santa Anita on Saturday, and developed in favor of the appropriately-named Irish-bred colt Later Than Planned.
Ridden by Hector Berrios, Later Than Planned ($5.60) stalked 11-10 favorite Tiger Track to early stretch before drawing away to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Later Than Planned ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:12.92 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 82.
Later Than Planned is trained by Phil D’Amato, who swept the two stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. D’Amato trains Almendares, winner of the Grade 3 American Stakes on turf later in the afternoon.
Tiger Track, who started from the outside post in a field of five, was unopposed early, leading by two lengths on the hillside portion of the course. The margin was reduced when Later Than Planned moved closer to the front as the field neared the crossing to the main turf oval.
Later Than Planned took the lead with more than a furlong remaining.
“I thought the outside horse would want the lead, so I tried to put a little pressure on him early,” Berrios said.
“My horse moved right up to him very easily and finished strong.”
Track Tiger held second, finishing a neck in front of 7-1 Caro Buono. Iriseach and Won for Lou completed the order of finish.
The Shear Stakes was originally scheduled for April 5, but was postponed because of a lack of sufficient entries. The race had five starters on Saturday, including Caro Buono and Iriseach, who were supplemented for $2,000 when entries were taken last Monday.
Later Than Planned, who is by the Exceed and Excel stallion Cotai Glory, has won 3 of 8 starts and earned $207,868. He has won 3 of 7 seven starts since arriving from Ireland last summer, beginning with a maiden race at Del Mar last August.
Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables and Marsha Naify, Later Than Planned won the Speakeasy Stakes at five furlongs on turf at Santa Anita last October and was sixth of 12 later that month in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar.
The Shear Stakes was Later Than Planned’s third start of 2026. He was third by a length in the Baffle Stakes on the hillside turf course on Jan. 25, and a troubled fifth in the Pasadena Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 22.
Those races were won by Greenwich Village, one of the few entrants for the John Shear on April 5.
Greenwich Village, trained by Bob Baffert, worked six furlongs in 1:12 at Santa Anita on Saturday in preparation for a scheduled start in the Grade 1, $1 million American Turf for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on May 2.
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