Nothing is certain in horse racing, but it would appear that something totally unforseen would have to happen for Fox Hill Farms' Eclipse Award winner Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) not to have her picture taken following Saturday's GII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita.
The $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase was untouchable in four perfect starts in 2015, never trailing at any point of her races while racking up a combined margin of victory of 22 lengths. The streak included facile successes over Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road) in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. in September and again when trying two turns for the first time in the GI Chandelier S. over this track Sept. 26. Though she was tasked with tackling the East Coast's best juvenile filly in the form of 'TDN Rising Star' Rachel's Valentina (Bernardini) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Songbird was never out of a high gallop in romping by 5 3/4 lengths to secure a [near-unanimous] championship.
“It seems like she drew a good post and we're excited about getting her back to the races,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. “We got everything in with her training that we wanted; we were lucky with the weather in that regard.”
Jade Princess (Tapit) was a visually impressive maiden winner at Del Mar trying a mile for the first time Aug. 27, but was soundly defeated by Songbird when a distant fifth in the Chandelier. She struck from just off the pace to clear her first-level allowance condition going this track and trip Jan. 8 and is a candidate to finish closest this time around.
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