Songbird cruises to victory in Santa Anita Oaks but Kentucky Derby still is not in the cards
Songbird did little to quiet the groundswell of opinion that the best 3-year-old in the country isn’t going to run in the Kentucky Derby. The extremely talented filly did another walkover victory to take the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks by 3 3/4 lengths on Saturday.
She is not only undefeated in seven races, but she hasn’t even been tested. Her total length of victories is a staggering 35 1/2 lengths. Imagine what the number would be if jockey Mike Smith actually pushed her in the stretch.
“She’s just incredible,” Smith said. “I feel so blessed and I keep pinching myself, having to remind myself that I’m the one that gets to keep the weight on her. That’s really all I do.”
Owner Rick Porter and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer have answered the Kentucky Derby question without hesitation from the start.
“I thought that at her age, particularly with Jerry’s viewpoints that we’d keep her on the filly path,” Porter said.
Hollendorfer’s viewpoint is that he doesn’t like to run fillies against the boys, especially young fillies.
Asked whether he’s starting to second-guess the plan, Hollendorfer was unequivocal.
“No second thoughts, not at all,” he said.
Songbird paid her usual $2.20, $2.10 and $2.10 for beating the field of six over a muddy 1 1/16 miles. Mokat was second and She’s A Warrior finished third.
It’s a foregone conclusion that Songbird is headed to Kentucky for the Oaks, a race restricted to 3-year-old fillies on the Friday before the Derby. However, Hollendorfer wouldn’t say the horse was going to be the prohibitive favorite.
“She’s done everything we’ve asked her and we thought she would do that today,” Hollendorfer said. “We have the point race [Kentucky Oaks] coming up, so if we have good fortune and she stays sound, we’ll try to go to Kentucky and win that one.”
Positive Outlook
Uncle Mo’s value as a stallion keeps going up after Outlook, from his first crop of foals, barely held on to win the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York. Outlook just out-bobbed 81-1 shot Trojan Nation to win the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Derby prep.
Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist, who won last week’s Florida Derby, is also an Uncle Mo colt.
Outlook, running for trainer Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, had his lead start to shrink in the deep stretch with Trojan Nation coming up the rail. But the colt refused to give in and won his third race in four starts.
Brody’s Cause rebounds
Brody’s Cause rebounded from a disappointing seventh in the Tampa Bay Derby to win the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., by 1 3/4 lengths in one of three major Kentucky Derby preps Saturday.
The winner of last year’s Breeders’ Futurity made a strong case to go across the state to Louisville in four weeks. Luis Saez was riding the horse for the first time for trainer Dale Romans.
Follow John Cherwa on Twitter: @JohnCherwa
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