Pretty Birdie flies away with Purple Martin win

HOT SPRINGS — Sometimes with racehorses, beauty and speed are correlated.

As an example, look to the Marylou Whitney Stables’ Pretty Birdie, winner of the $150,000 6-furlong Purple Martin Stakes for 3-yearold fillies before a crowd of 31,000 at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort on Saturday.

Pretty Birdie won under the ride of Oaklawn’s leading jockey David Cabrera in 1:09.01. Second-place Hypersport, under jockey Tiago Pereira, finished 23/ lengths 4 behind the winner and a nose in front of third-place Wicked Halo, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Ramon Vazquez. Verylittlecents, ridden by Jon Court, finished fourth, 91/ lengths behind Pretty 4 Birdie.

On the runway to the paddock, before the Purple Martin field of six had jogged back to the wire, the trainer of Mike Waters’ Hypersport, Ingrid Mason, said Pretty Birdie had drawn her attention as the fillies were saddled in the infield before the race.

“I saw [ Pretty Birdie in the infield],” Mason said. “I had never noticed that horse before, and I told Mike that the horse looked fabulous. I mean, I knew we had to race today.”

Pretty Birdie’s trainer Norm Casse knew of which Mason had spoken.

“She’s a beautiful horse,” Casse said. “She’s really well made. She’s got a beautiful stride and a beautiful walk, and I think that speaks to why she’s so athletic, but I think, ultimately, the real important thing is she’s fast.”

Casse is the son of Mark Casse, a multiple- gradedstakes-winning trainer who trained Sir Winston and War of Will to wins in the 2019 Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes, respectively.

“You can see the way my horse looks,” Cabrera said. “She looks big. She’s got a really nice stride on her. What else can you ask for?”

Pretty Birdie took the lead out of the gate in the Purple Martin, just as she had in her last start, a fifthplace finish in Oaklawn’s 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes on Feb. 19.

Cabrera said Casse had prepared Pretty Birdie for any circumstance.

“We came into the race thinking that if we break on top, we’ll take it, but if we break from behind, we’ll try to get her to relax behind horses,” Cabrera said. “We were also pretty confident about that, but she broke so sharp, and I thought, ‘ You know what, I’m just going to let her take it,’ and that’s what she did.”

Casse and Cabrera clearly had similar thoughts.

“We want her to have speed, but we don’t want it to be all-out or reckless all the time,” Casse said. “We spent a lot of time the last month teaching her to relax coming off horses. Although she didn’t have to do that today, she was much more reserved early on in the race, and it paid dividends.”

Pretty Birdie led Hypersport by a length through an opening quarter-mile in 21.63. Wicked Halo, from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, was in fourth, 2 lengths off the lead and 11/ lengths behind thirdplace 2 Verylittlesense, ridden by Jon Court and trained by Randy Morse.

Pretty Birdie remained a length in front of Hypersport through the half in 45.07. Wicked Halo ran third, a head in front of Randy Patterson’s Verylittlecents in fourth.

The order would remain the same through the wire, though Pretty Birdie gradually expanded her lead 0ver Hypersport, who battled to hold off a late surge from Winchell Thoroughbred’s Wicked Halo.

“[Hypersport] ran good,” Mason said. “I’m happy with the ride. [Pereira] rode him perfect. We’ll get them next time, right? Hopefully, we won’t have to run against [Pretty Birdie] again.”

Pereira said he wished Pretty Birdie had felt more pressure after the opening quarter.

“The winner didn’t have to fight up front,” he said. “She got an easy pace, but she finished strong, so congratulations to her.”

None were more affected by Pretty Birdie’s speed — and perhaps beauty — than Casse.

“It’s always exciting to have a nice horse in the barn where you can pick out some big-time races,” Casse said. “I don’t know where we’ll go next, but she’s starting to reveal what we’ve been seeing all along.”

“She’s a beautiful horse. She’s really well made. She’s got a beautiful stride and a beautiful walk, and I think that speaks to why she’s so athletic, but I think, ultimately, the real important thing is she’s fast.” Pretty Birdie’s trainer Norm Casse