Awesome Feather, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2010 and that year's winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, died on March 2, according to the Japan Stud Book.
The 15-year-old daughter of Awesome of Course resided at Japan's Northern Farm for the entirety of her broodmare career, after owner Katsumi Yoshida purchased her in-foal to Medaglia d'Oro for $1.9 million at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.
Awesome Feather initially raced as a Florida homebred for Fred Brei's Jacks or Better Farm, and she went unbeaten in six starts as a 2-year-old, dominating her division of the Florida Stallion Stakes series races at Calder Race Course before making the ambitious leap to graded stakes competition in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs.
Leaving the gate as the 4-1 favorite in the Juvenile Fillies, Awesome Feather raced four-wide down the backstretch and outkicked runner-up R Heat Lightning to win by 2 1/4 lengths under jockey Jeffrey Sanchez, clinching the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old filly. She was trained that season by Stanley Gold.
In the days following her Breeders' Cup triumph, Awesome Feather was entered in the Fasig-Tipton November sale for the first time, selling to Adena Springs for $2.3 million. The operation of Frank Stronach elected to keep the filly in training with new conditioner Chad Brown.
She returned to the races after an 11-month layoff, and added victories in the Le Slew Stakes at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct to round out her abbreviated 3-year-old campaign. At four, she added wins in the Florida Sunshine Millions Distaff Stakes and Nasty Storm Stakes before finishing sixth in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita Park, in what would be her career finale. It was her only defeat in 11 career starts, finishing with earnings of $1,912,746.
After being bred to Medaglia d'Oro during the 2013 breeding season, Awesome Feather sold to Yoshida during that year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and she was exported to Japan.
Her most successful foal to date is Super Feather, a multiple group stakes-placed son of Deep Impact. Her female family already extends through producing daughters Guillem, the Medaglia d'Oro foal that Awesome Feather carried through the sale, as well as the Deep Impact mare Awesome Wind, with several more fillies on her produce record to join the broodmare ranks in the years to come.
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