Undefeated champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) worked four furlongs in :48 (15/85) at Santa Anita Sunday under regular rider Mike Smith for next Saturday's GIII Santa Ysabel S. The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine, owned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms, returned to the races in style with a facile score in Santa Anita's GII Las Virgenes S. Feb. 6.
“It was just a little blowout, a nice work in decent time,” Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said of the $400,000 FTSAUG graduate. “There are a progression of races that you run in to get to the [GI Kentucky] Oaks. You have the first one [Las Virgenes], then this one, then the [GI] Santa Anita Oaks [Apr. 9]. If you're lucky enough after that, you can try a bigger race, although these are plenty big enough for us right now.”
Smith added, “Every breeze is different. A horse wakes up in a different mood, but right now, she's absolutely just loving what she does. That was probably one of the best half miles I've ever gone, about as easy and as smooth as you could possibly go; very impressive.”
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