| Horsename: | Astra |
| Sire: | Theatrical |
| Grandsire: | Nureyev |
| Dam: | Savannah Slew |
| Damsire: | Seattle Slew |
| Sex: | Mare |
| Foaled: | 1996 |
| Country: | United States |
| Colour: | Bay |
| Breeder: | Allen E. Paulson |
| Owner: | Allen E. Paulson |
| Trainer: | 1) Simon Bray 2) Laura de Seroux |
| Record: | 16: 11-1-2 |
| Earnings: | US$1,378,424 |
| Race: | Matiara Stakes (1999) Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap (2000, 2002) Jenny Wiley Stakes (2000) Beverly Hills Handicap (2001, 2002) Santa Barbara Handicap (2001, 2002) |
Astra (foaled January 25, 1996, in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racemare who won four Grade I races on turf.
She was bred and raced by Allen Paulson who also owned and raced her dam and her sire. Her dam was Savannah Slew, a daughter of the 1977 U.S. Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew, and her sire was Theatrical, winner of the 1987 Breeders' Cup Turf.[1]
Following the death of Allen Paulson on July 19, 2000, Astra raced for the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust. In mid-2001, trainer Simon Bray retired and her race conditioning was then turned over to Laura de Seroux who went on to match the two Grade I and the single Grade II wins that Bray had had with Astra. In winning her second edition of the Beverly Hills Handicap in 2002 for de Seroux, Astra set a new stakes record of 1:58.56 - for a mile and a quarter on turf.[2]
Astra was boarded at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky. She produced three foals, all of which raced but with only limited success,[3] before her untimely death on June 12, 2007, at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute near Lexington as a result of complications from colic.[4]