Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Stellar Wind training ‘ahead of the curve’
Stellar Wind has progressed sufficiently from her win in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on June 3 that trainer John Sadler considers the 5-year-old mare ahead of schedule for the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on July 30.
Stellar Wind worked six furlongs in 1:13.40 on Sunday at Santa Anita.
“She’s well ahead of the curve,” Sadler said. “She was very relaxed this morning. I’m happy with where she’s at.”
The champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, Stellar Wind will have another workout at Santa Anita this weekend before the Sadler stable is shipped to Del Mar in advance of that track’s summer meeting, which opens July 19.
Stellar Wind will have her final workout for the Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar around July 23. The $300,000 Hirsch Stakes is run at 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares; Stellar Wind won the 2016 running. Earlier this year, Stellar Wind won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.
Sadler had two other prominent workers Sunday: Accelerate and Cistron.
Accelerate, third in the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes at Santa Anita on June 24, went five furlongs in 1:01.40 for a start at Del Mar this summer. Cistron was timed in 1:12.60 for six furlongs in advance of this Saturday’s Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby.
Colonist, a two-time winner in overnight races in April for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 and is a candidate for the $200,000 Los Alamitos Derby, run at 1 1/8 miles.
Sircat Sally, Hollendorfer’s unbeaten 3-year-old filly, worked five furlongs in 1:04.20 for the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 23.
Cupid, the winner of the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 27, worked a half-mile in 49.80 seconds, his first major exercise since being diagnosed with an illness in late June that kept him out of last Saturday’s Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park.
“He looked good,” trainer Bob Baffert said of the workout.
“It’s too bad he got sick. He would have been tough in the Suburban. We’re getting him back now. We don’t have any plans yet.”
Two expected runners for the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 29 had workouts: Big Macher and Roy H.
Big Macher, who won the 2014 Bing Crosby Stakes, was timed in 48 seconds for a half-mile. Big Macher won the Thor’s Echo Handicap for California-breds on June 11 in his first start since returning from an injury that kept him out of action for all of 2016.
Roy H, the winner of the Grade 2 True North Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9, worked five furlongs in 1:00.