Awesome Feather, who last ran when she captured last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill to cap her 6 for 6 championship season, resumed her racing career in style, taking Belmont’s $60,000 Le Slew Stakes by two lengths in an excellent time of 122.76 for seven furlongs.
The Eclipse Award winner was making her first start for owner Frank Stronach and trainer Chad Brown after she was purchased for $2.3 million at Fasig-Tipton’s fall mixed sale two days after the Breeders’ Cup. Soon thereafter, Awesome Feather was diagnosed with a tendon problem.
Press quotes from NYRA:
Chad Brown, winning trainer of Awesome Feather (No. 2): “There was a lot of pressure today. She had been training very well. You can never have a horse coming off this type of injury…[at] a full fitness level. We brought her in here a little short fitness-wise, but nice and sound and healthy. We figured this was as close as we were going to get and gave her a shot, and she ran really well.
“She had a pretty standard bowed tendon, which is a lesion in the tendon. She’s a special horse, she’s got special owners. The Stronach family, they were presented a difficult situation. I’ll tell you, they handled it with class and optimism. They never complained one day about it. They just told me, ‘Look forward. Don’t look back. Keep the filly.’ She stayed in my care the whole time. She never went to the farm. We did all the therapy and waiting and healing ourselves, and [Mr. Frank Stronach] just said, ‘Let the filly tell you when she’s ready, and if she’s ready. When she’s ready, and if she’s ready, and if she never is ready then eventually we’ll take her home, but you keep her.’ So, through the whole thing they were just patient and optimistic and were never negative about the situation. I think their approach got us here today. It’s an honor, really, to train for them.
“I was a little worried early because coming off this type of layoff I didn’t want to crank the screws too much in the morning and never get to this day. So, I felt like I probably had her 75 percent fit, but perfectly sound, and I took that as enough to get her started. When I saw 22, 45 and she’s only a length off it, for a horse off a layoff, that’s a demanding pace to chase and still have finish. I was a little worried down the backside…but she dug in, she has the heart of a champion. It might have not been a stellar group, but she got the job done. I think she’ll be better off for it in the long run, fitness-wise. With this situation, really, we’ve got to see how she comes out of the race and make sure she’s perfectly sound. At that time, I’ll discuss things with the Stronachs and see what direction they want to go with her.”
Jeffrey Sanchez, winning jockey aboard Awesome Feather (No. 2): “She broke well and got in good position. She hadn’t run in 11 months, so when she got the lead she kind of waited on horses. I used the stick on her twice, and she finished up nicely.”