Undefeated champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) breezed in 1:01 flat (31/84) at Santa Anita Saturday morning in preparation for a summer campaign on the East Coast.
“The clockers gave her 1:01; I got her in a minute point 85, and she galloped out very nicely and very easily,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.
Regular rider Mike Smith was scheduled to work the Fox Hill Farms runner, but exercise rider Edgar Rodriguez stepped in when the Hall of Famer was involved in a minor mishap on another worker shortly after the main track opened at 5:10 a.m.
“Mike was going to work her, but he had a problem this morning,” Hollendorfer said. “I told him he shouldn't work the horse if he wasn't 100%, and he agreed.”
Hollendorfer has a handful of races on the East Coast lined up for Songbird's summer campaign, including a possible start against older horses.
“We're looking at the [GI] Delaware H. on the 16th [of July] and we're looking at the [GI] Coaching Club American Oaks [at Saratoga July 24], and we definitely want to run in the [GI] Alabama [at Saratoga Aug. 20],” the Hall of Fame conditioner said. “So what the first race is, we don't know yet.”
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