Stardom Bound ekes out Santa Anita Oaks score

Stardom Bound just got up in the Santa Anita Oaks (Charles Pravata/Horsephotos.com) IEAH Stables et al’s STARDOM BOUND (Tapit) ran in her customary spot at the back of the pack, started her run nearing the turn and was forced very wide throughout the stretch of the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G1) on Saturday. Despite all that, the gray lass still managed to get up in time to post the victory under jockey Mike Smith. The Bobby Frankel-trained three-year-old finished up the 1 1/16-mile test in 1:43 3/5 on the Pro-Ride, taking her fifth straight Grade 1 win. “I thought she won, watching the race live,” Frankel said, before adding, “I’m just lucky my heart’s strong.” Asked about running against males in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 4, Frankel said, “I’m not talking.” “I think she worked pretty hard today against the girls,” IEAH President Michael Iavarone said. “She’s going to have to really prove herself to handle horses like Pioneerof the Nile (in the Santa Anita Derby). If they think they want to go forward, I’m willing to go forward, but she worked pretty hard against girls today.” Two noses and a neck were all that separated the top four finishers on the wire, but there was more room between rivals during the running of the race. Burg Berg (Johannesburg) moved up from her inside post to lead through splits of :23 3/5 and :47 2/5 while chased by Hooh Why (Cloud Hopping) just to her outside. Hooh Why took over leaving the backstretch, posting three-quarters in 1:12, but couldn’t shake off Burg Berg until rounding the turn. By this point, Stardom Bound and Smith had begun their run and were hung out wide entering the stretch. Eventually forced to run down the middle of the track, the game lass just got up on the line to vindicate her status as the 2-5 favorite.

“When I moved out with her turning for home, everybody else went out at the
same time and we got caught really wide,” Smith said. “From the sixteenth-pole
home, I thought we could grind ’em down, but I was worried. At the wire though,
she put her ears up and she was playing with the pony coming back. Maybe this is
the kind of race she needed. I guess you could say it was a not-so-heady ride.”

Stardom Bound paid $2.80, $2.40 and $2.10 while keying $1 exotics worth
$24.90 (exacta), $189.30 (trifecta) and $1,042.90 (1-9-4-6 superfecta). Third
Dawn (Sky Mesa) split rivals on the final turn to just miss the win by a nose while
holding second by that same margin. The maiden winner gave back $12.40 and $7.20
as the 35-1 second longest shot. Hooh Why took third by a neck, returning $5 at
12-1. Nan (High Yield) ran wide down the stretch, angled toward the rail nearing
the line and took fourth over Burg Berg by 1 1/4 lengths.

Beltene (Unusual Heat), Miss Silver Brook (Cozzene), Stormy Slew (Hennessy)
and Will O Way (Broken Vow) finished out the order under the wire after Acronym
(Empire Maker) was scratched.

Stardom Bound kicked off her career with a nose defeat in her debut going 5
1/2 furlongs at Del Mar, and again took runner-up honors in the Sorrento S. (G3)
in her next start. Beginning with the Del Mar Debutante (G1), Stardom Bound has
proven unstoppable, winning that seven-furlong fixture by 4 1/4 lengths, and
then stretching out successfully to take the 1 1/16-mile Oak Leaf S. (G1) by 3
1/2 lengths. She cemented champion juvenile filly honors with a 1 1/2-length
victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Just nine days later, she was purchased by her new
owners for $5.7 million at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November. Stardom Bound began her three-year-old season with
a 1 1/4-length victory in the Las Virgenes S. (G1), her first start for Frankel, and has now racked up
$1,780,600 in earnings from a 7-5-2-0 career mark.

Stardom Bound is out of My White Corvette, a stakes winner and Grade 2-placed
daughter of Tarr Road. She counts as half-siblings a juvenile colt by Roman
Ruler and a yearling filly by Lion Heart, and was bred in Kentucky by Fletcher
Gray, Carolyn Gray and John Youngblood.