What *hasn’t* superstar three year old filly Songbird *not* done? Other than the Kentucky Oaks, which she unfortunately missed due to illness. She’s now a perfect 10 for 10 in her career after the Fox Hill Farms owned and Jerry Hollendorfer trained filly ran roughshod over the field in the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga. With Mike Smith aboard, Songbird raced with Go Maggie Go early in the race and then left her in the dust eventually winning the 1 1/4 mile race by 7 lengths.
Going 10 for 10 to begin a career in horse racing is difficult to the point of being almost unheard of. The best horse doesn’t always win and even the greats have an ‘off day’. As of yet, Songbird has yet to experience an ‘off day’. The only semi-blemish on her record is her absence from the Kentucky Oaks due to illness. Given what we’ve seen from her since it’s hard to imagine that she would have had much trouble with winner Cathryn Sophia or the rest of the field.
Songbird’s perfect record will be tested later this year in what is shaping up to be an epic Breeders’ Cup Distaff. In all honesty, there’s not much left for Songbird to accomplish in her own ‘weight class’. She’s all but clinched another Eclipse Award, and she’s won races at six different tracks in her career in California, Kentucky, and New York. She had no trouble at Saratoga–the so called ‘graveyard of champions’ winning the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks and Grade 1 Alabama Stakes. She’ll spend her immediate future in Jerry Hollendorfer’s barn at Del Mar where she’ll train for her final tune up before the Breeders’ Cup, the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion on September 24 at Parx Racing in Philadelphia.
Her biggest challenge this year will be the Breeders’ Cup Distaff which got a lot more interesting after Beholder’s second place finish in the Clement L. Hirsch and the nothing-to-be ashamed of second place finish behind California Chrome in the Pacific Classic. The original plan was to run Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Classic but her connections have decided to target the Breeders’ Cup Distaff where she’ll face Songbird for the first time.