Pepper Crown proves he's Northern California's top handicap runner

Pepper Crown’s victory in Sunday’s Grade 3 Berkeley at Golden Gate Fields earned him the nominal title of Northern California’s top handicap runner. Earlier in the year, he won the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile and the Rolling Green.

Owner-breeder-trainer Alex Paszkeicz made out very well, as the 4-year-old Peppered Cat colt earned $272,937 this year, not including California-bred bonuses. Fans of Pepper Crown were rewarded with a $94.20 payout in the Mile, $23.20 in the Rolling Green, and $33.40 in the Berkeley. A $2 parlay on the three stakes would have returned $18,203.

In their final prep before the San Francisco Mile, stablemates Pepnic, also sired by Peppered Cat, and Pepper Crown ran first and third in an optional claimer. Pepnic was claimed out of that prep for $62,500.

After the San Francisco Mile, Paszkeicz said he was glad Pepnic got claimed and not Pepper Crown, who is a year younger and was considered a better prospect by Paszkeicz even though Pepnic already had multiple stakes placings and had earned $101,782 as a 4-year-old.

“I thought at the start of the year that [Pepper Crown] could do well in all these races,” said Paszkeicz. “It’s a shame I’m not flexible enough to go to other places because he’d do well elsewhere. Maybe this will get more people interested in breeding to Peppered Cat.”