Horse Racing

Songbird: ‘Everything You’d Want in a Racehorse’



Songbird captured the guts of bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy the moment they exchanged glances.

McGreevy had scrutinized so many horses via the years, lengthy sufficient to know that the nice ones separate themselves from the great, the great distance themselves from the mediocre.

Songbird’s look all however demanded that he buy her in behalf of Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.

“One of many issues that stood out about her was her demeanor, her confidence,” McGreevy stated. “The nice ones, they’ve that confidence about them, even at gross sales. ‘Right here I’m. I’m good. Are you able to see it?’ ”

McGreevy noticed it, all proper. So did Porter. He made positive the darkish bay or brown daughter of Medaglia d’Oro didn’t slip previous when he dug deep to buy her for $400,000 on the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of chosen yearlings.

Though McGreevy additionally was concerned within the number of eventual 2011 Horse of the Yr Havre de Grace for Fox Hill Farm, he charges Songbird as the best horse he obtained in behalf of any proprietor.

“She’s on the prime,” he stated. “She confirmed up each single race.”

Porter gave her the identical lofty rating after assessing the various excellent fillies and mares he owned.

“Primary,” he stated. “She was simply so thrilling. She was lots of enjoyable to have. She had all of it.”

Songbird’s excessive responsiveness to jockey Mike Smith was readily obvious when she debuted on July 26, 2015 at Del Mar for coach Jerry Hollendorfer. Smith, decided to verify nothing went awry, gunned her from the beginning gate. As soon as she established a transparent lead, Smith requested her to settle. She relaxed nearly instantly.

Songbird went on to brush all 4 of her begins as a 2-year-old by a mixed 22 lengths, together with a dominant 5 ¾-length rating within the 2015 14 Arms Vineyard Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

She opened an unforgettable 3-year-old marketing campaign by successful 4 occasions on the West Coast earlier than she journeyed East to rattle off three consecutive Grade 1 triumphs within the Teaching Membership American Oaks and Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, and the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.

The Alabama was significantly significant for Porter as a result of he was hospitalized on the time, gravely sick with most cancers. He wanted one thing to raise his spirits. Then he tuned in to the Alabama – and watched Songbird all however fly house.

“I feel she helped me mentally,” he stated.

From a bodily standpoint, Porter benefitted from a life-extending experimental remedy. Songbird, in the meantime, took a career-opening 11-race successful streak into her extremely anticipated showdown with Beholder, a powerful 6-year-old mare educated by Corridor of Famer Richard Mandella, within the 2016 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.

In a race for the ages, they battled down the stretch stride for stride. Gary Stevens was using furiously aboard Beholder whereas fellow Corridor of Famer Smith regularly requested Songbird for extra and he or she responded generously.

McGreevy stood beside Hollendorfer because the drama unfolded earlier than a large crowd that was despatched right into a frenzy.

“That lengthy stretch, going at it and at it, it was simply a kind of traditional races,” McGreevy stated. “A fraction earlier than the wire perhaps we received. A fraction after the wire perhaps we received. It was only a head bob.”

That Distaff provided a uncommon second during which there was glory in defeat. Porter’s 3-year-old filly had pressed to the restrict one of many nice mares of all time. That she missed by the scantest of noses, there was no disappointment in that. In a way, she had triumphed in absorbing her first defeat.

“That Breeders’ Cup was one thing else,” Porter stated. “Each jockeys, each horses, each trainers.”

Songbird resumed her successful methods at 4. She took the June 10 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park and the Delaware Handicap, a race Delaware native Porter at all times yearned to win, a bit a couple of month later.

The victories had been workmanlike greater than sensible, although, and that involved Porter. After Songbird was upset by stylish Eternally Unbridled within the Aug. 26 Private Ensign at Saratoga, he despatched her to extremely regarded veterinarian Larry Bramlage for an intensive analysis.

The examination revealed vital points. Porter rapidly retired Songbird with 13 victories in 15 begins – 9 of them Grade 1 successes – and $4,692,000 in earnings.

“She was the whole lot you’d need in a racehorse. Every little thing,” Smith advised BloodHorse after the announcement was made. “The steadiness, the velocity, the stamina, the category, the guts, the strive, she was simply the whole lot. She was an exquisite chapter for me.”

She was an exquisite chapter for McGreevy, too.

“She was most likely the kindest horse I’ve been round,” he stated. “Fillies, particularly the great ones, can get fairly testy at occasions. She was at all times the kindest factor. All she wished was any individual to pat her and provides her a carrot.”

For Porter, Songbird supplied one thrill after one other, at all times flashing her dazzling velocity, at all times giving her all. The filly turned out to be the final nice racehorse owned by Porter, who died on June 6, 2021. Accolades for Porter and his contributions to Thoroughbred racing poured in from most of the main organizations and people within the sport. He was praised by the Breeders’ Cup as a “nice sportsman and humanitarian.”

“It was the best factor on this planet,” Porter stated, “after I acquired to go watch her run.”

Songbird’s legion of followers would agree.


Quick Details

  • Songbird was bred in Kentucky by California resident John Antonelli.
  • No rival got here nearer than 4 ½ lengths in any of her 4 begins at 2.
  • She obtained all however one in every of a attainable 261 votes for champion 2-year-old filly.
  • A lone dissenting voter opted for Catch a Glimpse over Songbird as prime 2-year-old filly.
  • Songbird was unanimous selection for Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly.





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