Awesome Feather, an American champion and black-type-producing mare for Northern Farm in Japan, died March 2, according to the Japan Stud Book. She was 15.
A homebred for Fred Brei's Jacks or Better Farm and by the owner/breeder's homebred stallion Awesome of Course, Awesome Feather won 10 of 11 career starts racing from 2 to 4 and retired with $1,912,746 in earnings. She was undefeated at 2 when she launched her racing career with a 5 3/4-length win at Calder Race Course for trainer Stanley Gold, swept the three filly divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes, and then captured the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) by 2 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs. She was named Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly for the year.
Brei offered Awesome Feather at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale following the 2010 Breeders' Cup World Championships and sold her for $2.3 million to Frank Stronach's Adena Springs Farm. For Adena Springs and trainer Chad Brown she won the Gazelle Stakes (G1) and three other stakes. Her only unplaced effort was a sixth in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (G1).
Stronach sold Awesome Feather in foal to Medaglia d'Oro at Fasig-Tipton's 2013 November Sale where Katsumi Yoshida bought her for $1.9 million. For Northern Farm, the mare produced five winners from six to race.
Super Feather, a gelded son of Deep Impact and the mare's second foal, is her most accomplished runner so far. Northern Farm sold Super Feather for US$2,587,000 to KT Racing at the Japan Racing Horse Association Select Yearling and Weanling Sale. The gelding won four times and was stakes-placed twice, finishing third in the Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho (G2) and Kokura Kinen (G3).
Awesome Feather also produced winners Awesome Wind (Deep Impact), Love Ambassador (Deep Impact), Jem Feather (Deep Impact), and 3-year-old Feather Motif (Heart's Cry), who broke his maiden Feb. 26 at Nakayama. The mare's first foal Guillem (Medaglia d'Oro) was unraced but she has already produced two winners from as many to race led by her second foal, who is recent Wakaba Stakes winner Shonan Bashitto (Silver State ).
Awesome Feather has an unnamed 2-year-old colt, by Satono Diamond, who sold for US$735,309 to Makoto Hayano at the JRHA select yearling sale, and an unnamed yearling filly, by Maurice, who sold for US$283,800 to DMM.com at the 2022 JRHA yearling and foal sale.
Hailing from a deep family, Awesome Feather's daughters are likely to continue flattering her stature as a broodmare. Awesome Feather is out of multiple graded-placed stakes winner Precious Feather, who is out of group 1-placed, group 3 winner Last Feather. The immediate family includes U.S. champion 2-year-old filly Quill, multiple grade 1 winner Caucasus, U.S. champion grass horse Run the Gantlet, and grade 1 winner Dance of Life.
