Sadler wants BC Distaff win, Eclipse Award for Stellar Wind

DEL MAR, Calif. – Stellar Wind finished second in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and fourth last year after stumbling at the start. Her third and final try in the race will be at Del Mar on Nov. 3, a date that trainer John Sadler is constantly reminded is fast approaching.

“They’ve got that countdown sign outside the track,” he said Monday of a sign prominently displayed at the corner of Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante. “It dropped under 100, now it’s in the 90s. That’s not that far away.”

Monday was the day after Sadler turned 61. The celebration was highlighted by Stellar Wind’s repeat victory in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, her third Grade 1 win in as many starts this year. Stellar Wind won an Eclipse Award at age 3 in 2015, and Sadler wants her to go out with one this year. She’s done all she can to this point. Now it’s up to Sadler to figure out the best way to get her to the Distaff, where a victory would clinch the title as champion older dirt female.

Last year, Stellar Wind followed her Hirsch victory with a win in the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita prior to the Distaff. Sadler said he likely would follow the same schedule this year but left open the possibility of training Stellar Wind straight into the Distaff.

“Last year, I think she had too hard a prep in the Zenyatta,” Sadler said of Stellar Wind’s narrow victory over Beholder, in which she earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 110.

Encouraging for Sadler on Sunday was that Stellar Wind seemingly didn’t need to be aggressively ridden in the closing yards by jockey Victor Espinoza while staving off a stubborn Vale Dori.

“Espinoza said she had more left in the tank,” Sadler said. “I like that because she’s had to be ridden harder in the past.”