Smith gives high praise to Songbird entering Santa Ysabel
ARCADIA, Calif. – Songbird is stirring up old memories for Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.
Songbird, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2015, will be heavily favored to extend her five-race unbeaten streak in Saturday’s $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.
Songbird’s brilliance, winning those races by a combined 28 1/2 lengths, has reminded Smith of the impressive start that Zenyatta made to her career in the winter of 2007-08. The 2010 Horse of the Year, Zenyatta had a different start to her career. She made her debut at the end of her 3-year-old season and won her first 19 races before losing her final start in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Songbird ran four times at 2 last year, a season that ended with a comprehensive win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland in October. Songbird was the easy winner of the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile Feb. 6 in her first start this year. She led throughout and was not tested.
“I can’t believe I get to ride a mare like this,” Smith said of Songbird. “Here comes another one.”
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Rick Porter, Songbird is part of a field of 10 in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel, which is run at 1 1/16 miles. The race is a prep for the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks on April 9, a race that Hollendorfer has stated as a goal for Songbird.
The presence of Songbird is likely to lead to the defection of Street Fancy, the winner of the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos in December. She is a candidate for the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 26, trainer Phil D’Amato said.
Santa Ysabel, Race 5
KEY CONTENDERS
Songbird, by Medaglia d’Oro
Last 3 Beyers: 87-99-90
◗ Songbird led by six lengths with a quarter-mile remaining in the Las Virgenes and was in front by 10 in the stretch. The margin caught Smith by surprise.
“I was amazed when I looked back,” he said. “I asked her to run at the quarter pole, and when I looked back, I couldn’t believe I opened up that much. I geared her down from there.”
◗ Smith has ridden Songbird in all of her starts. He said Songbird improved over the winter.
“She’s stronger and more mature,” he said.
◗ This will be Songbird’s third start at 1 1/16 miles. She won the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at the distance here last September by 4 1/2 lengths, the closest her rivals have been to her at the wire.
◗ Songbird has led in all of her races, but Smith said she is not reliant on that style. She could face an early test in the Santa Ysabel from fillies such as Not Now Carolyn, a maiden-race winner Jan. 28.
“She doesn’t have to be up there,” Smith said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Songbird. Her lowest Beyer Speed Figure in five career starts (84) is higher than the best Beyer of every other filly in the race. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Land Over Sea, by Bellamy Road
Last 3 Beyers: 77-77-82
◗ Land Over Sea has been second or third behind Songbird in three of her last four starts, all stakes. Land Over Sea was seventh in the BC Juvenile Fillies.
◗ On Thursday, trainer Doug O’Neill had a candid assessment of Land Over Sea’s chances in the Santa Ysabel. He said expectations are “low.” Land Over Sea races from off the pace and could rally to finish in the top three.
“Our filly is doing well, and the race is in our backyard,” he said.
Not Now Carolyn, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 75-42-51
◗ Not Now Carolyn won her debut for trainer Keith Desormeaux in a maiden special weight race at a mile Jan. 28, her third start. The Santa Ysabel will be Not Now Carolyn’s stakes debut.
◗ Desormeaux said the key for Not Now Carolyn is for his brother, jockey Kent Desormeaux, to preserve something for the stretch without letting Songbird set a slow pace.
“I’ve been doing all I can to teach her to rate and that it’s not all about speed,” Keith Desormeaux said. “It’s about rhythm and relaxing her. That being said, I would hate to see Songbird get an easy lead and have the race in her pocket the whole way.”