Breeders' Cup Distaff the moment of truth for three champions

ARCADIA, Calif. – Three champions at the crossroads meet Friday at Santa Anita in one of the most eagerly anticipated showdowns in Breeders’ Cup history.

Songbird, an undefeated 3-year-old who continues to soar; Beholder, a 6-year-old whose remarkable career is winding down; and Stellar Wind, a 4-year-old who could beat them both, face five others in a $2 million BC Distaff that is about as good as it gets.

The field for the 1 1/8-mile race includes Grade 1 winners Curalina, I’m a Chatterbox, and Forever Unbridled, along with Grade 2 winner Land Over Sea and Argentina Group 1 winner Corona Del Inca. The outsiders surrender a home-field edge to Songbird, Beholder, and Stellar Wind, whose 25 combined starts at Santa Anita have produced 22 wins and 3 seconds.

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Songbird, a front-runner, is facing older females for the first time. At some point in the Distaff, jockey Mike Smith will peek over his shoulder to gauge competition unlike any Songbird has faced. It will be interesting to see if the same thing happens as in her first 11 starts.

“The few times someone’s been next to her, I’ve noticed how hard they’re trying to keep up,” Smith said. “You can tell distress on their face. Their ears are pinned back, their body language – you can tell the distress. If they were trying any harder, their ears would disappear.”

However, Songbird, the 2015 champion juvenile filly, has never faced the likes of Beholder, a three-time champion and two-time Breeders’ Cup winner making the final start of her career. Beholder has won 17 races and $5 million. How good is Beholder?

“She’s the best I’ve ever ridden,” jockey Gary Stevens declared. “People say, ‘Ah, he says that about all of them.’ Well, I’m far enough down the road now I think I can fairly say it. I’ve ridden some great horses, but she’s held her form. That’s what makes her so unique, to go up and get Eclipse Awards every year.”

Beholder, the 2012 champion juvenile filly, 2013 champion 3-year-old filly, and 2015 champion older dirt female, has at least one Grade 1 victory each of the last five years, including the 2012 BC Juvenile Fillies and 2013 BC Distaff. Yet the last two times Beholder faced Stellar Wind, she finished second.

Stellar Wind is less accomplished than Beholder, but is vastly improved. Her runner-up finish in the 2015 Distaff clinched the 3-year-old filly championship. Trainer John Sadler always had the 2016 Distaff as the target this year, and raced her sparingly, with just three starts this season.

Stellar Wind, 7 for 11, ran the race of her career last out, defeating Beholder by a neck and covering more ground while racing outside. Stellar Wind earned a 110 Beyer. Other speed-figure services also gave her a superior number, which suggests a potential bounce.

Sadler maintains that Stellar Wind’s light campaign will allow her to maintain form.

“She’s done really well,” he said. “She’s had three races, so it’s not a hard, all-year campaign. It’s a second-half-of-the-year campaign. And it’s been five weeks (between starts).”

Sadler is seeking his first Breeders’ Cup win; Accelerate (Dirt Mile) and Stellar Wind are his 38th and 39th BC starters.

Richard Mandella, 8 for 38 in the Breeders’ Cup, has trained Beholder throughout her career. Sired by Henny Hughes, she is owned by B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farms. Hughes plans to retire Beholder after the Breeders’ Cup, and keep her as a broodmare.

Songbird, by Medaglia d’ Oro, is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms. Plans call for Songbird to race next year at age 4.

Stellar Wind is owned by the Hronis Racing stable of brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis, and will be ridden by Victor Espinoza. Stellar Wind was entered in the Keeneland November sale merely as a contingency. Plans call for Stellar Wind to campaign next year at 5.

In any other season, the three top shippers from the East and Midwest would command greater respect. This season, Curalina, I’m a Chatterbox, and Forever Unbridled are relative outsiders.

Curalina, trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, was third in the 2015 Distaff and this year has won 2 of 4. She runs best fresh, and is racing off a two-month break. John Velazquez rides. Curalina is entered in the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

I’m a Chatterbox, trained by Larry Jones and owned by Fletcher and Carolyn Gray, won the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland by seven lengths last out. She will be ridden by Florent Geroux. Plans call for I’m a Chatterbox to campaign next year at age 5.

Forever Unbridled, trained by Dallas Stewart and owned by Charles Fipke, won the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont last out. Joel Rosario rides. She also is expected to race next year.

The Distaff is race 9 of 10 Friday on a card that includes the BC Juvenile Turf (race 6), BC Dirt Mile (race 7), and BC Juvenile Fillies Turf (race 8).