Breeders' Cup Distaff: History no hurdle for Songbird

ARCADIA, Calif. – Even while her win streak grows, the undefeated Songbird has one conspicuous void on her résumé – she has never faced older fillies and mares.

Songbird is the only 3-year-old targeting the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which might be the deepest ever. In addition to Songbird, champions Beholder and Stellar Wind and Grade 1 winners Cavorting, Curalina, and Forever Unbridled – all 4-year-olds or older – make the Distaff one of the most widely anticipated races of Breeders’ Cup 2016.

“First of all, everybody has to get there, and that’s a challenge in itself,” Songbird’s trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, said this week. “Secondly, this is the time of year you find out if your horse can make the transition or not, running against older.

“My opinion on Songbird is that she will make the transition. But you never know until you try.”

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2016: See DRF’s top contenders

History is on her side – 3-year-olds have 10 wins and 16 runner-up finishes from 32 editions of the Distaff. Beholder was 3 when she won in 2013; Stellar Wind was 3 when finishing second last year. Beholder and Stellar Wind, who meet Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes, will be back this year to try to knock off their younger counterpart.

Like Songbird, Beholder entered her 3-year-old season following a campaign in which she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and was named champion 2-year-old filly. But when Beholder began racing at 3, her body type made some question if two turns would be her forte.

“She was a square-built, fast, sprinter model as a 2-year-old, and as she went into her 3-year-old year, you could see she just started growing and stretching,” trainer Richard Mandella recalled. “She developed into what I would say is a classic look – classic meaning a distance of ground.”

By autumn, Beholder was a different filly.

“Spring to the fall, it’s a big part of their life,” Mandella said. “She was becoming more tractable, more professional … like she is now.”

Beholder defeated an unexceptional field of older females in her final 2013 prep. Mandella knew the Distaff would be tougher.

“I had run 3-year-olds against older, but this was the Breeders’ Cup,” he said. “I’d never been that aggressive. This was something new for me. I was optimistic, but I didn’t think I was a lock, that’s for sure. Royal Delta, she had won everything.”

Beholder not only won the Distaff, she crushed by more than four lengths. The 5-year-old Royal Delta, who won the Distaff at ages 3 and 4, finished fourth.

Untapable was next in 2014. The 3-year-old shipped early to Santa Anita, trained super through October, and won the Distaff, 10 years after the 3-year-old Ashado won the 2004 Distaff. Untapable and Ashado both had won the Cotillion, and both faced older for the first time in the Distaff. Songbird is on the same trail.

Stellar Wind had never faced older until the 2015 Distaff. She lost by a neck, validating the theme of 3-year-old fillies running well against older. They also get a three-pound break in the Distaff – 121 compared with 124 for older fillies and mares.

John Sadler trains Stellar Wind, and he appreciates the jump from age-restricted races. But he also believes with the right horse, or filly, the class hike is no big deal.

“They’re peaking in the fall,” Sadler said. “Three-year-olds run well against the olders at that time of year. They’re more mature; they’re almost an older horse. Stellar Wind was a little slight early in the year. I thought she’d improve with time.”

:: Breeders’ Cup Challenge: Results, replays, charts, and more

Stellar Wind did just that, though the 2015 Distaff was not as strong as the prospective field for 2016.

“Some years, the older horses have all disappeared, so the 3s become the new 4s,” Sadler said. “A lot of it has to with – who’s in there?”

As for Songbird, she can enter October with confidence. But for the lone glitch to her campaign – she became sick in April and missed the Kentucky Oaks – the filly has remained on an upward trajectory.

Songbird is 11 for 11 after her Grade 1 Cotillion romp last weekend at Parx. Her preps are completed. She is a better filly now than she was in the spring.

“She’s gotten bigger and stronger, she’s more mature,” Hollendorfer said. “Generally, as they get older, they put on more weight. And she doesn’t get as excited as she used to.

“She’s gotten stronger with racing and training.”

Hollendorfer knows whom Songbird will be up against.

“Beholder and Stellar Wind are very good horses, and I imagine there will be others,” he said. “If we all make it to the Breeders’ Cup, it should end up being a very good race.”

If the 3-year-old Songbird continues her ascent, it might be the older fillies and mares who are in trouble in the Distaff.

◗ Forever Unbridled is the likely favorite Saturday in the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont Park, facing a prospective field that includes Off the Tracks, Paola Queen, Penwith, and Tiger Ride. Forever Unbridled finished third last out in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga. The one-two finishers, Cavorting and Curalina, are training into the Breeders’ Cup.

◗ Tara’s Tango, based in California, will ship to Keeneland to face I’m a Chatterbox on Oct. 9 in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes, the final Win and You’re In race for the Distaff. The field is expected to include the improving Genre. California-based Gloryzapper is 50-50 to start in the Spinster.