Stellar Wind Battles To Win Summertime Oaks
Stellar Wind charges past Tara's Tango to win the Summertime Oaks
In her first start after a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks May 1, Hronis Racing LLC's Stellar Wind determinedly rallied past Tara's Tango to take the Grade 2, $200,000 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita Park Saturday.
Victor Espinoza was aboard the 3-year-old filly as she sat midpack early off a comfortable pace set by Conquest Curlgirl. With a wide sweeping move around the far turn, Stellar Wind took the lead at the top of the stretch, but Tara's Tango to her inside was not finished yet. The two went head-and-head the length of the stretch before Stellar Wind surged to get her chestnut nose in front right on the wire.
“Whether the pace was going to be slow or fast. . .everything changed out of the gate and I was ready for it," said Espinoza. "I bounced out of there and I was going to figure it out when we hit the first turn. I wanted to see how fast we were going. They slowed it down pretty good, so I kept her closer. That was the best thing because with that pace I couldn’t leave her too much to do.
“I have to give Mike (Smith, aboard Tara’s Tango) a lot of credit because Tara’s Tango was really fighting and he was riding her so hard. But Stellar Wind got the job done and she felt great. I know it’s a little bit hot but she seemed to come back really well after the wire.”
Final time for the mile and a sixteenth on the main track was 1:42.53 after opening splits of :23.94, :48.26, and 1:12.27.
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This past spring, Stellar Wind was a formidable presence in the sophomore filly division on the West Coast, taking the G3 Santa Ysabel Stakes before romping in the G1 Santa Anita Oaks by 5 1/4 lengths. Extremely wide into the stretch of the Kentucky Oaks, the John Sadler trainee closed well to finish fourth.
“She ran very well and had to give away the weight, she gave away five pounds today. With the pace slow she had a long, extended, wide run. The second filly, Tara’s Tango is a very nice filly. It felt like a Stonestreet exacta with Curlin [sire of Stellar Wind] being so close to Stonestreet’s Mrs. Banke and the late Jess Jackson who also owned the horse that finished second."
Stellar Wind, out of the Malibu Moon mare Evening Star, now has four wins in six starts. She was bred in Virginia by Keswick Stables & Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC. The filly sold to Vernan Lee Stables for $40,000 as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton New York in August 2013, then was purchased again by Barbara Houck later that year at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic for $86,000.
A variety of options are on the table for Stellar Wind's next start.
“I think we’d like to keep her on dirt for now," said owner Kosta Hronis. "If we stay home here at Del Mar, we’d probably have to switch her over to the grass. If we keep her on dirt, we might go to Saratoga.”
“I don’t really have anything planned yet," Sadler said. I’ll take her down to Del Mar and then we’ll decide if we want to take her out of town or if we want to run her on the grass. We have two choices with her down there. We’ll see how it goes.”
