Champion Stellar Wind continues to prepare for Beholder Mile
Champion Stellar Wind worked five furlongs on Santa Anita’s fast main track Friday in 1:00.40. The Eclipse Award winner as outstanding three-year-old filly of 2015 is preparing for the Grade I, $400,000 Beholder Mile on June 3.
“It was a very nice work, super easy,” trainer John Sadler said. “She’s right on target for the Beholder. She’ll have two more works before the race.”
Regular rider Victor Espinoza will be aboard for each, including the next one a week from today. Jose Contreras was aboard Stellar Wind Friday.
“She looked good,” said Espinoza, recently elected to racing’s Hall of Fame, who watched Friday’s breeze that was in company with stablemate Pappou. The latter was clocked in 1:00.80.
“Stellar Wind has never been a fast work filly,” Espinoza said. “She saves it for the races, and that’s what we want.”
Also possible for the Beholder are two-time champion Songbird and streaking graded stakes winner Vale Dori, winner of her last six races.
TRAINER FANCIES ARISTOCRATIC’S POST IN LAZ BARRERA
Aristocratic makes his first start for Simon Callaghan in Saturday’s Grade III Lazaro Barrera Stakes for three-year-olds at seven furlongs and the trainer is looking forward to it.
“He came to me in good condition and seems to be training well,” said Callaghan, who received the son of Malibu Moon from owner Kaleem Shah earlier this week after a brief tour with Doug O’Neill.
“We’ll just try to keep him on the same path,” Callaghan said. “I like the post (six in a field of six). He’s definitely got speed, but that post is where you’d like to be, for sure.”
Aristocratic won the six furlong San Pedro Stakes from the number two post position under O’Neill’s direction on April 16.
The Laz Barrera, the fifth of nine races: American Anthem, Mike Smith, 2-1; Kimbear, Joe Talamo, 3-1; Bobby Abu Dhabi, Norberto Arroyo Jr., 4-1; Taxman’s Quest, Tyler Baze, 12-1; Sutton’s Impact, Flavien Prat, 6-1; and Aristocratic, Rafael Bejarano, 5-2.
MATT CHEW DOUBLES ON THURSDAY WITH SMALL BARN
Safe to say trainer Matt Chew, 56, has seen a lot in a lifetime on the racetrack. The son of popular trainer Richard (Dickie) Chew, he took out his assistant trainer’s license in 1978 at age 18 and went on his own in 1982.
“My dad passed away 10 years ago at age 77 and it’s always nice to hear from people who knew him,” said Chew, who saddled two winners from as many starters yesterday at Santa Anita. “Coming into yesterday, we had 13 head, so it was really nice to win a couple.”
Victorious with a pair of distaffers--Back Beauty, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare who took a drop in yesterday’s sixth race from 20,000 claiming into a $10,000 affair at six furlongs and aired by 4 ¾ under Tiago Pereira--and English-bred Poster Girl, a 4-year-old filly who took Thursday’s eighth race, a 6 ½ furlong turf allowance, by 2 ¼ lengths under Gary Stevens.
“Both of them were training well and moving in the right direction,” said Chew. “Back Beauty was aggressively placed. We thought we might lose her, but in this business, you need to win (Back Beauty was haltered for $10,000 by Jack Carava).
“From the time we got Poster Girl, I thought she was a nice filly, but she fooled us the first couple times we ran her. The first time (a one mile turf allowance on Jan. 16), we thought she’d probably run like most Europeans do, from off the pace, but she left the gate running and was only beaten about three lengths, so we thought that’s the way she wanted to do things.
“Gary rode her yesterday for the first time, but he’d been on her a couple times in the morning and he thought he could get her covered up and make one run. It worked out real well, and now we’ve decided to look for a stakes race on the grass here, probably at one mile.”
Chew also noted the positive impact Poster Girl’s co-owner, Peter Jeung, has had on his stable. “He’s very enthusiastic and I think that’s infectious,” Chew said. “We got lucky with his first horse, Singing Kitty, who we claimed for $32,000.
“She ended up winning three stakes and made about $360,000 for us. Peter just loves the game. He comes out to the barn every weekend and does massage therapy on all of the horses. Like I say, his positive attitude rubs off!”
FINISH LINES: Early probables for the Grade I, $300,000 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares, three and up, at 1 1/8 miles on turf May 27: Avenge, Goodyearforroses, Illuminant, Mokat, Perfect Pic, Pretty Girl, Sassy Little Lila and Sheeza Milky Way. Mokat worked five furlongs on Santa Anita’s training track Friday in a bullet 1:00.20 for Richard Baltas . . . What a View also worked five furlongs on the training track under trainer Kenny Black, going in 1:00.60 for the Grade I Shoemaker Mile June 3 . . . Rebel Stakes and West Virginia Derby winner Cupid worked seven furlongs from the gate for Bob Baffert in 1:25.40 under leading rider Rafael Bejarano . . . Multiple graded stakes winner Masochistic, 13th as the favorite in the Churchill Downs Stakes on Derby Day, will be given a couple months off, “a little vacation, not for any reason other than to let him regroup a bit,” trainer Ron Ellis said. “He’ll stay at Taylor Made (Farm) in Kentucky for a little rest.” . . . XBTV’s Zoe Cadman and Santa Anita clocker Donald Harris will be Tom Quigley’s guests, Saturday and Sunday respectively at 11:50 a.m., in the East Paddock Gardens . . . There is a Pick Six carryover Friday of $38,700.
Source: Santa Anita Park