BackTrack: A New High Note for Glorious Song

At the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society yearling sale at Woodbine in 1977, owner Frank Stronach and trainer Gerald Belanger Jr. bought a filly bred by E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm for $36,000. They have high hopes now that the filly, Glorious Song, will bring them an Eclipse Award this year.

Glorious Song, a bay by Halo out of the Herbager mare Ballade, took a big step in that direction when she upset It's in the Air, Prize Spot, and other fine 4-year-old fillies to win the $136,600 La Canada Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park Feb. 10. At 1 1/8 miles, the La Canada is the filly counterpart of the Charles H. Strub Stakes (G1).

(Although the La Canada winner was bred in Canada, the comparison only can be made in print. La Canada, Spanish for the dale or the glen, is pronounced "la can-YAH-da" and also is the name of a city in the Los Angeles area.)

"She was an unassuming-looking filly," Belanger recalled after the victory. "Not over 15.3 hands, but she had a fine pedigree, marvelous conformation, and good bone."

In her last 13 starts, Glorious Song has been off the board only twice. In the La Canada, Glorious Song, making her first start in a grade 1 stakes, raced the distance in stakes-record time of 1:47 3/5 to earn a purse of $80,350.

When it was over, the 42-year-old Belanger, a one-time jockey's agent, had a difficult time coming back to earth.

"A grade 1 stakes!" he repeated over and over. "I never even started a horse in one before. God, was I nervous before the race. In her last start (against It's in the Air in the El Encino [G3]), Glorious Song was stopped, bumped, and jostled. I worried about what that might do to her heart, but she ran terrific today. She is really brave."

In second place, 1 3/4 lengths behind Glorious Song at the wire, was Glen Hill Farm's consistent gray Prize Spot; and in third place, four lengths farther back, was the 4-5 favorite of 42,093 fans, It's in the Air. The Harbor View Farm colorbearer packed top weight of 125 pounds, giving away seven pounds to the winner, and six to Prize Spot.

Like the El Encino, the La Canada was marred by traffic problems; the main one to suffer was It's in the Air. Leaving the half-mile ground, the situation was: Celine was in front, closely attended by Prize Spot. It's in the Air was third, but already in close quarters along the rail. It was at this moment that Glorious Song began closing steadily on the outside and, when Laffit Pincay Jr. saw her on the go, he tried to move with the favorite, but had no clear path.

At the top of the homestretch, just as Prize Spot rushed into the lead, It's in the Air sought to squeeze through on the inside of the gray filly. Finally, Pincay was forced to check stride and change his course to the outside, a maneuver that cost It's in the Air a stride or two. According to Pincay, It's in the Air would not have won anyway.

Glorious Song, meanwhile, continued her relentless charge, engaged Prize Spot for the lead in the upper stretch, went to the front almost immediately, and drew clear with authority.

"Chris (McCarron) asked me before the race how he should ride her and I told him the same as last time," Belanger related, "only this time find a hole. Actually, I don't think she improved today. I believe she would have won by daylight last time if she had gotten loose. Anyway, she circled the field today to win and it looks like she's the boss now. We'll find that out for sure in the next race."

Glorious Song and It's in the Air, along with the consistent Prize Spot, are expected to come back in the $150,000 Santa Margarita Handicap (G1), championship test of the winter season for fillies and mares Feb. 24.

Belanger's plans for the remainder of the year are to race the Canadian-owned-and-bred filly, "wherever the Eclipse votes are." After the Santa Margarita, he likely will return to Canada then head for New York in the late spring and summer.

For the last several years, Belanger has been training for Stronach, and he has a public stable of six now at Santa Anita.

"Mr. Stronach has hopes of becoming a major breeder in Canada," he said. "He is just starting and wants to breed the type of horses that fit a track like Santa Anita. We plan to winter here and race in Canada and the East the rest of the year."

It was a big day for the popular McCarron, a two-time national riding champion who earlier in the afternoon was the recipient of the 1980 George Woolf Memorial Award. For the public ceremony, McCarron elected to wear the colors of Windfields Farm, the breeder of Glorious Song. McCarron praised Glorious Song's gameness.

"We had a perfect trip and she is so easy to ride," he said. "From the half-mile pole on, I felt that we were in control because I had Pincay (It's in the Air) trapped along the rail. I hesitated about moving too early because that would have given him room. When I did ask Glorious Song to run, she just took off and was still running strongly at the end."

In the paddock before the La Canada, It's in the Air looked to be at her very peak, her bay coat shining in the bright sun. She ran below her best form however, according to Pincay.

"She ran in spots," he said, "and didn't charge when I asked her for her best. When we got in the clear, she just didn't have it."

Epilogue: Glorious Song won the Santa Margarita then took the Top Flight Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct on her way to earning an Eclipse Award as champion older female, and Sovereign Awards as Horse of the Year and champion older female.