Bird Song hitting his stride

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Aside from having similar names, there is very little similar about the paths Songbird and Bird Song have taken to this point of their 3-year-old campaigns. And while trainer Ian Wilkes knows that Bird Song is no Songbird, he does believe the best is yet to come for him.

Bird Song, a homebred son of Unbridled’s Song owned by Marylou Whitney, joined Wilkes’s barn following a fifth-place finish in a maiden race at Keeneland this spring. After a fourth-place finish going a mile at Churchill Downs in his first start for Wilkes, he’s turned back in distance to win two straight six-furlong dashes, including a 1 3/4-length entry-level allowance tally here July 24. That victory, which came on the same card on which Songbird won the Coaching Club American Oaks, earned him a spot in Saturday’s Grade 1 King’s Bishop.

“It’s kind of funny how that works – both horses with similar names and Bird Song winning a race here the same day Songbird wins the Coaching Club,” said Wilkes. “She’s an amazing filly, but believe me, he’s a seriously talented horse, too. He’s just a little behind, just learning how to race.

“I made a mistake running him a mile the first time. He was too close to a very fast pace but still hung on to finish fourth. I shortened him up for the next two, got him to rate a little bit and listen to the rider, and he won both of them. The thing that impressed me the most in his last start is that they went 23 and change, and he sat off the pace, wasn’t rank, which shows me how well he’s learning.”

Bird Song tuned up for the King’s Bishop with a sharp five-furlong breeze in 1:02.26 here on Sunday, a work punctuated by a very strong gallop-out.

“On paper, 1:02 and 1 doesn’t look great, but I loved the work,” said Wilkes. “I wanted to see him go out well, and that’s what he did. Obviously, going into a race like this is tough, but after his last win, we were in a position of what do you do now? We could run him in a two-other-than against older horses, but how tough is that going to be up here? It looks like a well-matched field, and we’ve got to start somewhere. Now, if we can only get a Songbird-like performance from him, we should be fine.”