'Tin Man' wins Clement L. Hirsch Memorial

ARCADIA, Calif. - Oz may have given nothing to The Tin Man, but the other five jockeys in the Grade 1, $300,000 gift-wrapped a present with a bright bow on Sunday at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting. They allowed The Tin Man to dictate the pace of the entire 1 1/4-mile grass race, and they never could catch him.

The Tin Man, ridden cleverly by jockey Mike Smith, got away with an opening quarter-mile in 24.71 seconds over a course than is downhill for the first furlong. The Tin Man then clicked off fractions of 48.51 seconds for a half-mile, 1:12.26 for six furlongs, and 1:35.49 for a mile.

The Tin Man stormed through the final quarter-mile in 23.44 seconds to complete the 1 1/4 miles on firm turf in 1:58.93.

"We had a dream trip," Smith said. "He broke extremely well. He put his ears up and really relaxed well. The last eighth, he was flying."

Sarafan, favored at 4-5 with entrymate Hawkeye, rallied for second, one length behind The Tin Man. Blue Stellar was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third. Night Patrol was scratched after winning the previous day's Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile, and Skipping also was an early scratch.

The Tin Man ($7), a 4-year-old gelding by Affirmed out of the Tom Rolfe mare Lizzie Rolfe, was bred and is owned by Ralph and Aury Todd. He has now won six times in 11 starts, including 5-of-7 on Santa Anita's turf. The Tin Man, who is trained by Richard Mandella, won the Grade 2 American Handicap at Hollywood Park in July, and was second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap in September.