Hronis Racing's Stellar Wind (Curlin), who faced off against champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) in several memorable 2016 clashes, forged past a game Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) in deep stretch to earn a neck victory in the first running of the GI Beholder Mile, formerly the Vanity, at Santa Anita Saturday.
“She's so game, that's why she wins these races,” said winning owner Kosta Hronis. “She's back–our whole deal with bringing her back this year was if she was healthy and training well. This reminded me of running against Beholder.”
Vale Dori bound out to the lead as Stellar Wind, caught slightly flat-footed at the break, trailed the short three-horse field in the early strides. Victor Espinoza sent Stellar Wind through a seam between the pacesetter and Finest City (City Zip) going into the first turn and the 1-2 favorite took up a tracking position as Vale Dori set fractions of :24.12 and :47.64. Stellar Wind drew on even terms with the pacesetter at the top of the lane and looked set to sail on by, but Vale Dori, riding a six-race win streak, battled back bravely along the rail. Stellar Wind found another gear late, though, and put away the Argentinian miss in the dying strides to earn the fourth Grade I victory of her career.
“She's so tough,” trainer John Sadler said after watching Stellar Wind earn her second Grade I win of 2017. “She doesn't lose photos. This was closer than I thought it was going to be, but that other mare is really a top mare now. We're thrilled.”
While the favorite's backers may have had a few anxious moments as Vale Dori seemed to re-rally in upper stretch, Espinoza was always confident.
“I wasn't worried,” Espinoza said. “I had confidence in her. She's always like that in the stretch. She won't do much on her own. She's amazing, she's an incredible mare, but I have to do my job. She always wins by enough. I have to encourage her to go forward. She's been like that from the first day I rode her. She has so much power that it's hard for any other horse to beat her when it comes to head-and-head down the lane.”
With wins in the 2015 GI Santa Anita Oaks and GII Summer Oaks, Stellar Wind was named champion 3-year-old filly of 2015 after a runner-up effort behind Stopchargingmaria (Tale of the Cat) in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was second behind the great Beholder in what was at the time named the Vanity Mile in 2016, but bested that multiple champion in the GI Clement Hirsch S. and GI Zenyatta S. She ended 2016 with a fourth-place effort after a troubled start in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. Stellar Wind opened 2017 with another Grade I triumph, taking the Apr. 14 GI Apple Blossom H. by 1 1/4 lengths in her lone previous start this year.
“She's been training great,” Sadler revealed. “She's even stronger than she was last year at this point in the year, so we're really excited. We were ready to go.”
Pedigree Notes:
Stellar Wind, purchased privately by Hronis Racing after a dominating maiden score at Laurel in 2014, is out of a half-sister to MSW & GSP Im Out First (Allen's Prospect), the dam of MSW & GSP Im a Dixie Girl (Dixie Union)–dam of Grade I winner Mor Spirit (Eskendereya)–SW First Ascent and SW & GSP Zenith (Roy), whose son Great Hunter (Aptitude) won the GI Breeders' Futurity in 2016. Stellar Wind's unraced 3-year-old half-brother Bozeman (Birdstone) was a $190,000 purchase by Bo Bromagen, agent, out of the 2015 Keeneland September sale. The Keswick Stables homebred Evening Star, a two-time winner, was most recently bred to Curlin. Stellar Wind was her first foal.
Saturday, Santa Anita
BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $368,000, SA, 6-3, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.14, ft.
1–STELLAR WIND, 126, m, 5, by Curlin">Curlin
1st Dam: Evening Star, by Malibu Moon
2nd Dam: Sequins, by Northern Fashion
3rd Dam: Brilliant Touch, by Gleaming
($40,000 Ylg '13 FTSAUG; $86,000 Ylg '13 EASSEP). O-Hronis Racing LLC; B-Keswick Stables & Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (VA); T-John W. Sadler; J-Victor Espinoza. $240,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 3yo Filly, MGISW, 14-9-2-1, $2,053,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.*** Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Vale Dori (Arg), 126, m, 5, Asiatic Boy (Arg)–Valerina (Arg), by Halo Sunshine. O-Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum; B-Abolengo (ARG); T-Bob Baffert. $80,000. [bullet ad=”irt-shell”]3–Finest City, 122, m, 5, City Zip–Be Envied, by Lemon Drop Kid. ($50,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $85,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP). O-Seltzer Thoroughbreds; B-HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (PA); T-Ian Kruljac. $48,000. [bullet ad=”bluewater-shell-big-fish”]Margins: NK, 4 3/4, NO. Odds: 0.50, 2.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Faithfully. Scratched: Show Stealer.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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