Isabella Sings Looks to Pad Resume in Endeavour

The second stage of Isabella Sings' career is already in the works. But before the 5-year-old daughter of Eskendereya transitions from top-flight runner to broodmare for her owner/breeder Siena Farm, she is being given every opportunity to capitalize on the strong form her connections hope she passes on.

In what could be her racing swan song, Isabella Sings will try to successfully pull off her catch-me-if-you-can routine against 10 other fillies and mares in the Feb. 11 $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes (G3T) going 1 1/16 miles over the Tampa Bay Downs turf.

With three graded stakes wins already to her credit, including her win in the My Charmer Handicap (G3T) last Nov. 26 to cap off her 2016 campaign, Isabella Sings earned the right to have a high-profile first mating when she enters the breeding shed. That date will come this spring as she is booked to leading Ashford Stud stallion Uncle Mo  —but not before she hopefully adds a bit more padding to her resume.

"The plan has always been to bring her back for the early part of this season, but she will be retired this spring and become a mom," said David Pope, president and co-owner of Siena Farm. "We didn't have any plans to send her to the breeding shed early, so we thought we'd try and get two or three more races in and then bring her back. 

"You don't want to get ahead of yourself but we think possibly the Hillsborough (G2T at Tampa Bay Downs March 11) could be after this. We believe she likes the surface at Tampa. She's training great, she's doing well. So we're taking it one race at a time. This could be the last one but we'll see how it goes."

A confirmed front-runner, Isabella Sings began her 2017 with a third-place finish in the Marshua's River Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 14, the latest in a string of consistent results for the chestnut mare. Beginning with her first graded stakes win in the 2015 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs, the Todd Pletcher trainee has only been worse than third twice in her last nine starts. She nearly pulled off an upset of champion turf female Tepin in last year's Hillsborbough when she jumped out to an 18-length lead at one point only to be reeled in late to finish second by a length.

"I think Todd's team has been the difference there," Pope said. "They've been working with her, getting her to relax and she's doing, I think, incrementally better each race. You can't try and go in there and rate her behind horses, she's not going to go for that. But the patience (Pletcher) has shown is paying off."

Installed as the 5-2 favorite on the morning line, Isabella Sings could face her toughest challenge from a pair of Chad Brown-trained runners in Light in Paris and Elysea's World. Light in Paris sat just off the pace last time out en route to winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance race over the Tampa Bay turf Jan. 8 while her stablemate—who is cross-entered in the Suwannee River Stakes (G3T) Saturday— enters off a 1 1/4 length allowance victory at Gulfstream Park Dec. 29.