Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Songbird returns in Phipps
Makes first start since nose loss in BC Distaff
ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been a little more than seven months since Songbird last raced, putting in a performance that may have been her best and yet resulted in her lone loss. She returns to action on Saturday at Belmont Park in the Grade 1, $750,000 Ogden Phipps, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is eager to get his stable star going anew in quest of a third Eclipse Award.
“When you’re a horse trainer, you can’t expect to get horses like these all the time,” Hollendorfer said. “It’s been quite a while since she’s last raced. We’d have liked to have been racing earlier this year, but that’s not the way it worked out, and she’s had plenty of time to get ready for this.”
Songbird, 4, comes into the Phipps with a stellar résumé. She owns a pair of Eclipse Awards, at ages 2 and 3, and won her first 11 starts – seven in Grade 1 races – before dropping a dramatic nose decision to Beholder in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Beholder was rightly celebrated for going out on top, but Songbird ran her heart out, coming out on the wrong side of a head bob.
“It took a champion to beat a champion, that’s how I look at it,” Hollendorfer said Thursday outside Songbird’s stall in trainer Shug McGaughey’s barn.
Songbird was about to go out to train on her first morning since her arrival from California on Wednesday. She was at the front of her stall, eager to go to work. Songbird always has been tall and long-legged, but she’s matured physically since last fall.
“Don’t you think she’s bigger?” Hollendorfer said. “She is bigger.”
The Phipps will mark Songbird’s first race at Belmont Park, but she has raced with success in New York before, having won both the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama last summer at Saratoga. The Phipps, at 1 1/16 miles, will mark Songbird’s first race around one turn since her first two starts, victories at Del Mar that included the Del Mar Debutante.
Songbird carries the top weight of 123 pounds, conceding two to eight pounds to her rivals. Six are lined up to face her, including Carina Mia, who last year won the Acorn on the Belmont Stakes undercard and finished second to Songbird in both the CCA Oaks and Cotillion.
The Phipps goes as race 5 on the 13-race card.
KEY CONTENDERS
Songbird, by Medaglia d’Oro Last 3 Beyers: 105-101-95
◗ She scored runaway victories in both her debut and her first start at 3, so she’s shown she’s capable of firing fresh, but this is the longest layoff of her career since she began racing.
◗ The race came up with little pace, so Songbird looks to be the controlling speed.
◗ Mike Smith, who has been aboard Songbird for every one of her races, has the mount. He has been aboard Songbird for her recent workouts at Santa Anita.
“Mike tells me she’s much more relaxed in her works,” Hollendorfer said. “She’s willing, not anxious.”
Carina Mia, by Malibu Moon Last 3 Beyers: 93-81-91
◗ She tried mightily against Songbird in two races last year but was no match. But for this race, Carina Mia benefits by already having had an outing in 2017, and she won her lone start at Belmont, a track at which Songbird has yet to race.
◗ She was a close third in the Humana Distaff on an off track at Churchill Downs five weeks ago in her first start of the year.
◗ She has lost five straight since last year’s Acorn.
Highway Star, by Girolamo Last 3 Beyers: 97-92-69
◗ This will be her first Grade 1 race, but she is a terror at Belmont Park, where she is 4 for 4, including a victory in the Grade 2 Ruffian on a sloppy track last time out May 13.
Paid Up Subscriber, by Candy Ride Last 3 Beyers: 87-86-89
◗ She is trying to end a fiverace losing streak.
◗ Jockey Javier Castellano takes the controls for the first time.
Bar of Gold, by Medaglia d’Oro Last 3 Beyers: 95-88-81
◗ She was second to Highway Star in the Ruffian. This will be her third start following a fourmonth layoff.