Eye on the Oaks: Stellar Wind

Stellar Wind scores a 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Photo by Benoit Photo)
The sister race to the Kentucky Derby, the $1-million, 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks is held annually at Churchill Downs on the Friday before the Derby and restricted to 3-year-old fillies (young female horses). Eye on the Oaks, which will run through the 2015 edition of the race, takes a closer look at fillies who have won important races and could make an impact as we move toward the first Friday in May.
This week we look at Stellar Wind, winner of Saturday's Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Stellar Wind blew past her six rivals on Saturday to take the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes in only her third career start. The daughter of Curlin earned 50 points for the win to take up fourth position on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard.
Racing Résumé
Virginia-bred Stellar Wind began her career on the East Coast, racing for trainer Donald Barr and owner Barbara Houck at Laurel Park. After a third-place debut in a six furlong maiden, the filly romped impressively when stretched out in distance, capturing her second start by 8 ¾ lengths in December. Stellar Wind earned a 99 Equibase speed figure for the one-mile race, and the effort was so eye-catching that Hronis Racing purchased her privately and sent her west to the barn of John Sadler.
Stellar Wind adjusted well to the balmy Southern California weather conditions, putting in three solid six furlong works before making her graded stakes debut. Despite this, the maiden winner from Laurel was sent off at 7-to-1 in the Santa Ysabel.
Stellar Wind broke a bit slowly and settled into sixth position behind tepid fractions of :23.99 and :48.63. Midway on the turn for home she moved up to challenge the leaders four-wide and swept past, striking the front near the top of the stretch before motoring home to win by 2 ¾ lengths over favored Light the City. After breezing the filly prior to the race, jockey Victor Espinoza knew Stellar Wind had potential.
“I like her, she’s so smooth and the way she worked was so nice. I wanted to break and let her do whatever she wanted to do; I didn’t want to irritate her, just make her happy,” Espinoza said. “They were walking up front so I had to press the pace by the three-eighths pole. She was just waiting for me to command her. I knew I could just shake the reins at her and she would just go. I think farther would be better for her.”
2015 SANTA YSABEL STAKES

Video courtesy Santa Anita Park
Running Style
With only three races under her belt, it’s difficult to say for sure that Stellar Wind is a closer, but so far she appears to prefer to close from far off the pace or a stalking position. In her six furlong debut, she rallied from sixth to grab third, in her maiden win she sat in fourth early in the race, and on Saturday she closed from seventh. This is a good running style for the 1 1/8 mile distance of the Kentucky Oaks, especially this year as there could be a lot of early speed that can tire each other out up front, leaving the race open to a filly coming from off the pace.

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Stellar Wind also appears to relish added distance, as Espinoza pointed out. Her two wins have come at a mile and 1 1/16 miles and she’s looked to have plenty left in the tank on both occasions.
Pedigree
Stellar Wind was snagged for $40,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, and she was sold for $86,000 just a few months later at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic fall sale. Not only has she turned out to be a pretty decent racehorse, her pedigree is one that could make her a good broodmare as well.
Stellar Wind is the first foal from the winning Malibu Moon mare Evening Star and a member of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin’s third crop. Though his stud career got off to a slower start than his connections would have liked, Curlin finished 2014 as the leading third-crop sire, with Grade 1 classic-winner Palace Malice and graded stakes horses Ride On Curlin and Diversy Harbor to his credit. He also had a $1.1 million yearling at the 2014 Keeneland September Sale.
Stellar Wind’s second dam, Sequins, foaled multiple stakes winner Im Out First and stakes winner Zenith, who produced graded stakes winner Great Hunter, as well as stakes winners Im A Dixie Girl and First Ascent also appear under Sequins in Stellar Wind’s pedigree.
Third dam Brilliant Touch produced stakes-placed Gleam Out, while fourth dam Indian Nurse threw two stakes winners. Her offspring were even more prolific, as 70 black-type horses trace their lineage to Indian Nurse, including Knave, Take My Picture, Miss Sally, Matty G and multiple Grade 1 winners Love Sign and Star of Cozzene.
Stellar Wind is a lightly raced filly with plenty of room for improvement off of her third lifetime start. Though some of the West Coast’s best sophomore fillies were absent from the Santa Ysabel, the ease of her victory bodes well for future outings along the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.