Star Fortress gobbles up turf to take Cardinal in U.S. debut
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Star Fortress, in her first start in the U.S., announced herself with a dominant 10-length victory in the Grade 3, $400,000 Cardinal Stakes on the holiday Thursday at Churchill Downs.
Star Fortress ($24.68) and Luis Saez were last in the field of six after a moderate six furlongs in 1:13.90 on the turf course rated good. The filly made a sweeping five-wide move to circle the field, edging clear of favored Saffron Moon into the stretch. From there, Star Fortress widened as she pleased to the wire.
“We let the speed go and saved ground,” Saez said. “Around the turn we swung out and just really exploded down the stretch.”
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Saffron Moon held second by a neck over Lovely Princess.
The time was 1:51.10 for the nine furlongs. This was the first race contested on the Churchill Downs turf since the River City Stakes last Saturday.
Star Fortress, by Sea The Stars, races for John Gunther, whose family purchased her as a weanling at Tattersalls, and Eurowest Bloodstock. The filly has now won twice from eight career starts. She was most recently seen finishing third in the Aphrodite Fillies Stakes in July at Newmarket, after which she moved to trainer Cherie DeVaux in the U.S.
“She was training very well coming into this race and she won very impressively today,” DeVaux said. “We’re not sure where we’ll go next with her. Our plan was to get her to this race and focused on that.”
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