Every work was better, every race was better, the way she handled it, and she’s just extremely talented.
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Songbird, the nation’s leading 3-year-old filly, had her first gallop over Saratoga’s main track on Friday morning.
Songbird arrived at Saratoga on Wednesday night following a flight from Southern California that made stops in Denver and Lexington, Ky. She raised her career earnings to $2,402,000. Mike Smith had to ask her for the first time, and she responded with a very willing ease. A lot of times it’ll really move them up, and if that happens, oh my. “I had Pat Day call me out of the blue one day and say, ‘Is she really that good?’ Chris McCarron has come out and said, ‘She might be better than any of them you’ve ridden'”.
The winning time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1 minute, 49.56 seconds, insignificant to all except those who love minutiae. Songbird also showed she is comfortable stretching out in distance, as she gradually ran faster through the race.
At a course known as the “Graveyard of Champions” Songbird was given a serious examination by Carina Mia, but her class shone through in the straight as she cleared away by five-and-a-quarter lengths.
Few handicappers doubt the early leader will be Songbird, who brings an undefeated 8 for 8 record to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and makes her first start on the east coast for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
The potentially lethal combination of the cross-country trek, a steamy July afternoon that made her hot before the race and feisty Carina Mia tested her as never before.
Bill Mott, the Hall of Fame trainer who conditions Carina Mia, took pride in placing second to Songbird in the five-horse field.
“Just because I’ve been on them doesn’t mean I’m going to pick the right one”, Smith said. “It looked like when we turned for home, we were in with a shot, but the other filly had a little too much left”. What she does that’s the norm for her is very hard, it seems like, for other fillies, which is mechanics, which is the way she does things. “She’s a top filly and I’m definitely impressed”. I take my hat off to Carina Mia.
“Songbird’s got a big, handsome stride”. The California-based horse will stay here for the next month to get ready for the Alabama on August 20. The Bernardini filly closed out her season with a runner-up finish to Songbird in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. They’ve said all along that Songbird will face females for the time being.
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“This is where we needed to go”, Porter said of his decision to conduct a summer campaign here. “We had a good trip over and got lucky and prevailed”.
