Reprinted from Bloodhorse.com. Stellar Wind was named Virginia-Bred Horse of the Year for 2015. She most recently won the Grade I Zenyatta Stakes and now prepares for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She was bred by the Keswick Stables and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, LLC.
Trainer John Sadler has had a deliberate plan for Stellar Wind‘s 2016 campaign, and so far, Hronis Racing’s Curlin filly has checked off every box.
Ahead, however, is the most important box to check in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I) and Stellar Wind put in her first of three planned works for her matchup against fellow champions Beholder and Songbird Oct. 14 with an easy half-mile workout in :48 2/5 at Santa Anita Park.
“It was a nice, easy half,” Sadler said as he watched his chestnut filly move through the paddock after her Friday-morning drill. “Right on her routine. She’s obviously right where she’s supposed to be.”
With the Distaff as the main target all along, Stellar Wind has made steady progress during her 4-year-old season. She began with a strong, ableit nonthreatening, second to Beholder in the Vanity Mile (gr. I) off a more than seven-month layoff, then defeated the three-time champ back-to-back in the Clement L. Hirsch (gr. I) and Zenyatta (gr. I).
Hronis Racing’s Stellar Wind and jockey Victor Espinoza, outside, outleg Beholder (GaryStevens), inside, to win the Grade I, $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes, Saturday, October 1, 2016 at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia CA.
© BENOIT PHOTO
“What’s nice is we haven’t had any glitches. Everything is right on plan,” Sadler said. “She hasn’t missed any days, she’s eating great—everything is just super.
“It’s gone exactly like we wanted—unless we could have beat (Beholder) three times,” he added with a laugh. “Everything has gone like we hoped and we’re going into the race with a fresh horse. … I always thought she could be better at 4 and she’s proven me right.”
Under jockey Jose Contreras Friday, Stellar Wind ran the first quarter of her work in :24 1/5, made her way through three furlongs in :36 2/5, and galloped out to five furlongs in 1:02 2/5. Sadler said unlike the other female stars on the West Coast, Stellar Wind doesn’t dazzle in her morning works with fast times, but that’s also how he likes her to train.
Stellar Wind and Victor Espinoza, left, hold off Beholder and Gary Stevens to win the Grade I $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, CA.
©Benoit Photo
“She’s not an ‘A’ workhorse. She’s like a ‘B-plus’ or a solid ‘B’ if you read those clocker reports,” Sadler said. “That’s just her. She’s like that in her races, too—you’ve got to ride her along. She’ll work fast if I asked her, but I don’t really need to at this point. She likes what she’s doing and we get so time consumed in California about fast works—it’s kind of what we live in.”
As for Stellar Wind’s future, Sadler called her reserved spot in the Keeneland November sale “flight insurance,” in case anything should go awry, and that the current plan is to race her at age 5.