Stellar Wind (Curlin) and Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}), who battled it out to the wire in a scintillating GI Beholder S. June 3, will renew their rivalry in the GI Clement L. Hirsch S., a 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, at Del Mar Saturday.
Stellar Wind, who got her neck in front of Vale Dori in the Beholder, will be looking for her third straight Grade I victory in the Hirsch after opening 2017 with a win in the Apr. 14 GI Apple Blossom H. The 5-year-old mare, an Eclipse champion in 2015, is no stranger to epic match-ups at Del Mar. She beat champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) to win last year's Hirsch.
Vale Dori had a string of six straight wins interupted in the Beholder. The 5-year-old mare opened the year with wins in the Jan. 14 GII La Canada S., Feb. 11 GII Santa Maria S., Mar. 18 GI Santa Margarita S. and May 7 GIII Adoration S. She has a graded stakes win over the Hirsch's track and 1 1/16-mile distance, having captured the GII Bayakoa H. last December.
“They're both really good horses and they run well every time, so we're expecting another war,” John Sadler, trainer of Stellar Wind, said. “We're expecting to stay close to [Vale Dori] and Stellar Wind has been tough in tight finishes.”
Autumn Flower (Flower Alley) was third behind Vale Dori in the La Canada, Santa Maria and Santa Margarita and resurfaces in the Hirsch after a fifth in the Adoration.
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