Finest City, Songbird Drill Toward Spring Starts
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Photo: Zoe Metz
Finest City worked a half-mile in :45 3/5
After a speedier-than-designed half-mile workout April 22 at Santa Anita Park, trainer Ian Kruljac said champion female sprinter Finest City will almost surely head to the May 6 Humana Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs for her next race.
The 5-year-old mare ran a half-mile in :45 3/5, with opening furlongs splits of :11 3/5 and :23 flat.
"I'm glad we didn't go five furlongs," Kruljac said jokingly of the City Zip mare's work, which he wanted closer to :48. "It was very fast, but she wasn't asked. She was comfortable."
The Humana Distaff will be the chestnut's first trip outside of California, which is a significant hurdle for the once hard-to-handle filly.
"She's gone down to Del Mar but that's it," Kruljac said. "She's matured, but when we go down to Del Mar it takes her a week to settle down. Hopefully it was just baby things."
The 28-year-old trainer said he has no plans to send Seltzer Thoroughbreds' Finest City to Churchill early, and she'll get one more work at Santa Anita before shipping.
Kruljac was considering running Finest City in the June 3 Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita, where she would encounter fellow champions Songbird and Stellar Wind, but ultimately opted for the Distaff at seven furlongs, the same distance of her last two wins, the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) and Santa Monica Stakes (G2). She followed the Santa Monica with second-place run in the two-turn Santa Margarita Stakes (G1).
BALAN: Finest City Dazzles in Santa Monica
"Right now she looks ready to fly," the trainer said.
Minutes after Finest City's work, Fox Hill Farm's Songbird broke off for her third work of the season. The two-time champion filly worked an easy half in :48 4/5, with furlong splits of :12 2/5, :24 2/5, :36 2/5, and a gallop out to five furlongs in 1:01 1/5. It was the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro filly's longest drill of 2017, following three-furlong works in :35 4/5 April 9 and :36 3/5 April 15.
"She was very good," trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.
Songbird's main rival in the Beholder Mile, Stellar Wind, will log her first work since her April 14 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) victory next week, trainer John Sadler said Saturday.