ARISTELLA began her career on the grass last summer at Saratoga, but after a late rally in a maiden race at Woodbine, she set out on a Tapeta campaign highlighted by a win in the prestigious Princess Elizabeth Stakes.
Trained by Rachel Halden for American-based Flying Zee Racing Stables, Aristella appropriately went on the trail to the Woodbine Oaks and she picked up a few small prizes in three of her stakes tries, but was seventh in the Woodbine Oaks.
The filly tried the second jewel of the Triple Tiara, the Bison City Stakes, last time and was third of six behind a front-running Winterberry.
Halden took another shot with Aristella (More Than Ready – Back to Love by Street Cry (Ire) in the series, entering her in Saturday’s $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, which was shortened this year from 10 furlongs to 8 1/2 furlongs as it had to be run on the inner course (the E.P. Taylor course is under renovation).
Despite being 7-to-1 against three Mark Casse-trained fillies, Aristella and the red-hot Rafael Hernandez parlayed a perfect stalking trip into a 1 1/4 length win in 1:42.36, her first win this year and third score in 10 races. The longest shot in the race, Scat Girl, rallied for second for Zilli Racing Stables, followed by the Casse trio of Shifty, who was once again rank early in the race, Winterberry and Woodbine Oaks winner No Time.
Aristella was bred by Peter Bergald Racing Interests LLC and Anderson Farms in Ontario and she was a $70,000 yearling purchase from the 2023 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“We’ve run in every race of the Triple Tiara,” noted Halden. “I don’t think she fired [seventh] in the Oaks. She came out of that, and she seemed to recover from it well, and doing okay. So we took on the Bison City, which I think was a good effort.
“Then we thought we really don’t want to take on the Casse trio again, but after the way she’s worked on the turf the last two works, and I started looking back at her form. I’m thinking, she came around for me in the fall last year and did some of her best running.”
The Tiara series was won by three different fillies for the third consecutive year. That leaves the door open for a three-year-old filly in Canada to contend for a chance at the Sovereign. Currently Winterberry, with two stakes wins this season, would be the division leader.
Aristella is from the unraced mare BACK TO LOVE who was bred by Anderson Farms and Darley. She is a half-sister to another broodmare for Anderson, Orchard Beach, who produced two $1 million-plus yearlings including Group 3 winner and top young sire Sergei Prokofiev.
Back to Love has had three previous foals to race and two winners. Her two-year-old, a filly by Nyquist named Have I Told You, is working forwardly at Woodbine.
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