Much like the season mentioned in her name, this Cal-bred had a beautiful look about her.

She also showed some talent as a juvenile filly, and she used that to engineer a championship campaign in 2007.

A daughter of the sire In Excess, Spring Awakening's two-year-old season got underway at Hollywood Park in July. She showed her class from the start, taking third on debut. Next came the annual summer stop at Del Mar, which was a productive campaign for this charge of veteran horseman Mike Mitchell.

With young rider Joe Talamo back aboard, Spring Awakening cruised to her first win after a beautiful move on the outside turning for home. That performance took her to a major test in the Grade I Del Mar Debutante a few weeks later, where she accounted for herself well with a good second in her first try against winners (and against a large field, too).

Spring Awakening continued to display class, taking third in the Anoakia Stakes at the Oak Tree meet that October before returning to Hollywood Park. With a new jockey in Garrett Gomez, Spring Awakening had a very respected money rider in the irons. And the partnership worked.

Their first race together came in the Moccasin Stakes during the autumn meet at the Track of the Lakes and Flowers. Near the leaders early on, Spring Awakening was handled well by Gomez as they scored a stakes win in their first outing together. They teamed up again at the end of the year for the California Breeders' Champion Stakes at Santa Anita, and Gomez again put her in the early mix. After battling with a rival in the stretch, Spring Awakening had more for the last few seconds, moving clear to win another stakes race to close out her first year.

The California Breeders' Champion Stakes might be considered her biggest victory. After the race, Spring Awakening was honored by the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association as the Golden State's Champion Cal-bred Two-Year-Old Female. And it was a deserving honor as she won or placed in every race she entered, captured a pair of stakes, and finished second in a Grade I in her first try against winners.

Spring Awakening's career resumed the following summer, but she never managed to recapture her winning form from 2007. She participated in four stakes that year, the first two coming at Del Mar. She was off the board in both starts, and then she headed to the Midwest as a member of the Michael Stidham barn. A start at Arlington and then at Keeneland did not yield any minor awards, and Spring Awakening was later retired after collecting three wins, a second and two thirds over ten starts.

Although her second year was the mirror opposite of her productive juvenile campaign, Spring Awakening and her connections had plenty to be proud of. At the age of two, she was consistent, classy, and willing to battle with the opposition. And that rightly made her a champion in her native land.