Songbird has connections excited for next year

The brilliant Songbird, who rolled by 5 3/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, was packing up Sunday morning to head back to California, with an eye toward an eagerly anticipated 3-year-old campaign.

Songbird, based in California with trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, has won all four of her starts by a combined 22 lengths and is a three-time Grade 1 winner.

“We’re looking forward to next year,” Hollendorfer said, while declining to name a specific next target. “We don’t have any plans yet, but we will.”

California's road to the 2016 Kentucky Oaks runs through the Starlet on Dec. 12 at Los Alamitos, the Santa Ynez on Jan. 9 at Santa Anita, the Las Virgenes on Feb. 6 at Santa Anita, the Santa Ysabel on March 5 at Santa Anita, and the Santa Anita Oaks on April 9.

Songbird completed the 1 1/16 miles of the Juvenile Fillies in 1:42.73, more than a full second faster than the 1:43.79 unbeaten colt Nyquist ran later in the day to win the Juvenile. The times led to obvious questions about whether Hollendorfer and owner Rick Porter would consider taking on males with their filly next sprint.

“I think we're a long way off from thinking about that,” Porter said following the race. “But she's big enough, and she's showed that she's talented enough. But we'd have to see how she stacks up with [Ragozins] and ThoroGraph and look at all the numbers to make sure that she could win the race.”

Meanwhile, Tristan Barry, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, reported that Juvenile Fillies runner-up Rachel’s Valentina also was in good order the morning after the race. The Grade 1-winning filly tracked Songbird in second throughout the race while suffering her first defeat.

Rachel’s Valentina is expected to get a short break at owner-breeder Stonestreet Farm’s training facility in Ocala, Fla., before rejoining Pletcher’s string.