NEWS
Stardom Bound wins thrilling Oaks
Posted: Saturday, March 07, 2009 6:37 PM
STARDOM BOUND
Benoit & Associates photo
by Myra Lewyn
Champion Stardom Bound swung wide into the lane and unleashed an explosive turn of foot on the outside, but she need every inch of stretch to prevail by a nose in a desperately tight four-horse finish in the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G1) on Saturday.
Sent off as the 2-to-5 favorite, the Tapit filly secured her fifth straight Grade 1 victory, but the race came down to the final stride when she thrust her nose in front of maiden winner Third Dawn, putting in question a start against males on April 4 in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).
“I think she worked pretty hard against the girls,” Michael Iavarone of co-owner IEAH Stables said. “She’s going to have to really prove herself to handle horses like Pioneerof the Nile.”
“I’m not talking,” trainer Bobby Frankel said after the race.
Stardom Bound, the champion two-year-old filly of 2008, was the only stakes winner among the top four finishers.
Burg Berg sprinted to the early lead and was pressed by Hooh Why through a moderate half-mile in :47.54. Stardom Bound settled at the back of the nine-horse field under regular rider Mike Smith and maintained that position through six furlongs in 1:12.12 as Hooh Why gained the lead on the second turn.
Stardom Bound moved four wide on the second turn and was hung very wide entering the stretch but readily responded with a burst of acceleration on Smith’s cue.
Hooh Why had a one-length lead in early stretch, but lost some momentum when bumping with Third Dawn, who rallied from seventh and raced between that foe and Miss Silver Brook in deep stretch.
Nan rallied from next to last, but was caught in traffic in midstretch until finding an inside path and surging near the finish line
“From the sixteenth pole home, I though we could grind ‘em down, but I was worried,” Smith said.
Stardom Bound dug in for the win and covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.62 on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface. Third Dawn, the second longest shot in the field at 35.20-to-1 odds, outfinished Hooh Why by a nose for second, and 30.60-to-1 outsider Nan finished another neck back in fourth.
“Maybe this is the kind of race she needed,” Smith said afterward.
Stardom Bound, who is out of the Tarr Road mare My White Corvette, improved to five wins in seven career starts and increased her lifetime bankroll to $1,780,600.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
