Stellar Wind gets comeback win in Summertime Oaks

Jun 21, 2015 - 12:41 AM Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Odds-on favorite Stellar Wind edged Tara's Tango at the wire to win Saturday's $200,000 Summertime Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

The original 10-horse field for the 1 1/16-mile stakes was reduced to six after four fillies were early scratches.

Trained by John Sadler, Stellar Wind, with Triple Crown winning jockey Victor Espinoza, went off as the 2-5 favorite and pressed the pace being set by 18-1 longshot Conquest Curlgirl.

Stellar Wind went to the lead on the far turn, but was joined by Tara's Tango with Conquest Curlgirl third. Stellar Wind and Tara's Tango battled through the stretch with the favorite getting the nose decision.

"Whether the pace was going to be slow or fast," Espinoza said, "everything changed out of the gate and I was ready for it. 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."

Finishing third was Conquest Curlgirl followed by Sheer Pleasure and Scat Means Go. Roksana's saddle slipped and jockey Rafael Bejaravo pulled up on the backstretch. The scratches were All Star Bub, Danette, Guild and Fantastic Style.

The time for the Summertime Stakes was 1:42.53.

Owned by Hronis Racing, Stellar Wind garnered $120,000 for the win. The chestnut filly has won four of six career starts for $493,200.

Stellar Wind was the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Oaks on May 1, but finished a disappointing fourth behind Lovely Maria. The filly had claimed the Santa Anita Oaks on April 4 and five weeks earlier the Santa Ysabel Stakes.

"I don't really have anything planned yet," Sadler said about Stellar Wind's future. "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."

Stellar Wind returned $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10. Tara's Tango paid $3.80 and $2.80, Conquest Curlgirl paid $3.60 to show.