Songbird Soars to Chandelier Victory

Fox Hill Farm's Songbird continued her winning ways in style Sept. 26, drawing clear by 4 1/2 lengths in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park to build a 3-for-3 record. 

The 2-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro   toyed with seven rivals as the 1-5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile event, securing her position on the front end and increasing her margin to the wire in a final time of 1:43.79. It was her second grade I victory in a row for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer with Mike Smith in the irons. She won the Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) in sparkling fashion Sept. 5.

BALAN: Songbird Dazzles in Del Mar Debutante

"It lived up to the expectations," Smith remarked. "She opens that stride up and she has such a high cruising speed. Not only does she have the ability but she has the mind to go with it. There are so many horses with that have that kind of ability but a lot can get to them. She's so intelligent, she's so smart and listens to everything I tell her. I got her to fall asleep there on the lead but she fell asleep too much! I had to wake her up a little bit at the eighth pole but after that she jumped back into the bridle and it was over."

Smith gave Songbird a Hall of Fame ride after a bit of a fractious start, settling the bay filly out on the front end to click off opening fractions of :23.14 and :46.85. His mount rolled easily along while drawing away with every stride, and headed for home through three-quarters in 1:11.09 under a confident hand ride.

"She acted up a little bit at the break," Smith said. "I think breaking in front of the crowd the first time made her a little nervous. I was lucky to get away as well as I did but she's so big and strong that when those horses came together on her it just made her go forward."

Reddam Racing's Land Over Sea made a good run at the pacesetting winner through a mile in 1:37 flat, but could not make up enough ground and settled for second under jockey Mario Gutierrez.

"I wasn't going to make much ground on her," Gutierrez said. "Mike Smith has a really talented filly, and with them being able to get that type of easy lead, I knew it was going to be tough for me to cut it. But I like my chances in the Breeders' Cup. My filly runs from behind, so I really like our chances. She got the distance; we know now she can run a mile and a sixteenth. I think we're good. I couldn't ask for more."   

Right There was rank and trailed the field early, but rallied to finish third (9 3/4 lengths behind the runner-up).

Songbird returned $2.40, $2.20, and $2.10 while Land Over Sea brought $4.20 and $3.20 at odds of 9-1. Right There paid $4 at 24-1, as Vieja Luna, Jade Princess, Halo Darlin, Sheeza Milky Way, and Yodelsong completed the order of finish. Pretty N Cool scratched.

Bred in Kentucky by John Antonelli, out of the West Acre mare Ivanavinalot, Songbird was a $400,000 purchase by Fox Hill at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale when consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency. The Chandelier win improved her earnings from those three straight wins to $402,000.

"It was very exciting. It was just what we wanted," said Dan Ward, Hollendorfer's assistant. "She showed she can go two turns and now we've got five weeks (until the grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Oct. 30 at Keeneland)."

Doug O'Neill, trainer of Land Over Sea, said she also will likely contest the Breeders' Cup.

"She ran a great race. We're very happy with the way she ran," he said. "Songbird is a great filly. She's got that speed and stamina and when she got out there and was able to settle a little bit, you knew no one was going to beat her. We got beat by a really, really good filly, but I was really proud of our filly. She cut into it a little bit. She tried to make a race out of it, but Songbird was too tough and had too much left.

"We'll huddle up with Team Reddam, but I would think the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly would be the next up."