Up With the Birds goes for two in a row in Sky Classic

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Up With the Birds must have enjoyed the home cooking when he found the mark for the first time in two years here July 24 in the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes. Up With the Birds, the 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year, will try to double up over 10 furlongs on grass in Sunday’s $200,000 Sky Classic Stakes at Woodbine.

Up With the Birds left trainer Malcolm Pierce’s barn in 2015, when he was based in Maryland with trainer Graham Motion. He was winless in nine starts for Motion, who sent him out to finish a surprisingly good second here in the Grade 1 Canadian International.

Up With the Birds was reunited with Pierce for his last race in the nine-furlong Nijinsky, in which he rallied from off slow fractions to win by daylight over a troubled Button Down. It was his first victory since the 2014 Nijinsky.

“He was very strong,” Pierce said. “Obviously, we know he runs really well here at Woodbine. His best race while he was away was the International last fall. He was a good second. He likes this course.”

A field of eight was drawn for the Grade 2 Sky Classic, the supporting feature for the Breeders’ Stakes, which Up With the Birds won in 2013.

Sky Classic, Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Up With the Birds, by Stormy Atlantic
Last 3 Beyers: 97-93-97

◗ The 6-year-old is closing in on $2 million in earnings.

“The whole thing with him is just keeping him happy,” Pierce said. “It seems like they know when they win, too. He came out of the last race in good order. He seems to be very happy. I think a mile and a quarter is still within his reach for sure.”

Are You Kidding Me, by Run Away and Hide
Last 3 Beyers: 99-96-100

◗ Last year’s Canadian champion older male runner was supplemented by trainer Roger Attfield off a second in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup on Tapeta. He finished a close third in last year’s Sky Classic after capturing the Nijinsky.

Button Down, by Oasis Dream
Last 3 Beyers: 95-83-90

◗ She was blocked in the stretch before getting up to secure second by a nose in the Nijinsky, much to the dismay of trainer Josie Carroll.

“We were really unhappy with the trip she got in the Nijinsky,” Carroll said. “I don’t think she got a fair trip.”

◗ Carroll said the timing of this race worked out best for the 5-year-old. Another option for her was against females in last weekend’s Flaming Page Stakes, which ended up being taken off the turf.