Breeders' Cup Distaff: For favorites, it's ready, aim, wait

ARCADIA, Calif. – Breeders’ Cup prep season ended sooner this year for Stellar Wind and Forever Unbridled, the 5-year-old mares aiming for another shot at the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff Nov. 3 at Del Mar.

The early favorites for the Distaff, they will enter with unconventional campaigns. Who needs a prep race? Stellar Wind and Forever Unbridled do not.

Stellar Wind’s most recent start was July 30. She will enter the Distaff following a 97-day layoff. No problem.

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“She’s never shown me that she needs a prep,” trainer John Sadler said. “I’ve had her so long, and know her so well. I’m pretty confident. I just don’t feel like she needs another race.”

Stellar Wind won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in spring at Oaklawn Park after a five-month layoff. Firing fresh is not new. But if Stellar Wind wins the Distaff, it will be following a layoff that is unprecedented.

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Escena won the 1998 Distaff following a 72-day layoff, longest by a Distaff winner.

Sadler’s decision to skip the Zenyatta on Sept. 30 at Santa Anita was influenced by the 2016 Zenyatta. Stellar Wind ran the fastest race of her career, a victory over Beholder that earned a110 Beyer. The highly rated race took its toll. Five weeks later in the Distaff, Stellar Wind broke slowly and finished fourth.

“She had to prep a little harder in the last one, she ran such a [fast speed figure],” Sadler said. This year, no prep. “She’s doing good this year, so I’m not going to overdo it.”

Stellar Wind, runner-up in the 2015 Distaff, is 3 for 3 in 2017, all Grade 1 races.

Forever Unbridled’s most recent start was Aug. 26, when she defeated Songbird in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga. She will enter the Distaff following a 73-day layoff and two-start campaign. She won a Grade 2 at Churchill Downs in June, followed by the Personal Ensign. The abbreviated campaign was by necessity, according to trainer Dallas Stewart

“She had an injury last year after the Breeders’ Cup, so we just took a while,” Stewart said. “She didn’t come back into training until May.”

Forever Unbridled underwent minor surgery to remove a chip in her left front ankle during the offseason.

Forever Unbridled, third in the 2016 Distaff with five weeks between starts, won the Personal Ensign following a 10-week break. Stewart is confident she can fire first start back in the Distaff.

“She showed in her last two races the time frame works for her,” he said.

Winning the Distaff off a two-start campaign would be unprecedented. Adoration won the 2003 Distaff in the third start off a long layoff, and only the fourth of the season. She was off from January until September, and had two preps into the Distaff. Round Pond in 2006 and Stopchargingmaria in 2015 won the Distaff in the fifth start of their campaigns.

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While the top mares already finished prepping, 3-year-old fillies Abel Tasman, Elate, and Paradise Woods will run in different races.

Kentucky Oaks winner Abel Tasman will face It Tiz Well and Salty on Saturday in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx; Alabama Stakes winner Elate will face fillies and mares Sept. 30 in Beldame at Belmont Park; and Santa Anita Oaks winner Paradise Woods will run at Santa Anita in either the Zenyatta or L.A. Woman, a sprint, on Oct. 8.

The Zenyatta is a Win and You’re In for the Distaff, and will be led by probable starters Shenandoah Queen and Faithfully. Vale Dori is nominated, but her status is uncertain.

◗ Kiriaki, an Argentina-based mare, won the first BC Challenge race this year for the Distaff, but will not ship to the U.S. for the race, according to Breeders’ Cup officials.