Songbird a Philadelphia Filly?

Songbird at Parx Racing | Equi-Photo

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In 2010, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer sent his star filly Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision) to Philadelphia Park to continue a budding rivalry with Fox Hill Farm's Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) in the GII Cotillion S. Blind Luck closed furiously and came up a neck short of Havre de Grace that day, and six years later, Hollendorfer returns to the since-renamed Parx Racing for the now Grade I Cotillion with arguably one of the greatest sophomore fillies of all time, Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro). Ironically carrying the same Fox Hill Farm colors that foiled Hollendorfer's Cotillion bid in 2010, unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Songbird has asserted dominance over her contemporaries time and again, winning 10 starts by a combined 54 3/4 lengths.

Champion juvenile of 2015 and winner of the GI Santa Anita Oaks earlier this year, Songbird added a pair of Grade I wins to her monumental resume this summer at Saratoga, capturing the July 24 Coaching Club American Oaks and Aug. 20 Alabama S. with ease. The dark bay returned to the worktab in Southern California 11 days after her Alabama score and finalized her prep work for the Cotillion with a four-furlong breeze in :47.60 (5/61) Sept. 18.

“She's been ultra-consistent throughout the time that I've been training her, which was a long time before she broke her maiden,” Hollendorfer said on an NTRA teleconference Tuesday. “We're very grateful to have her, and we've had some really nice horses in the past. She surely compares to many of those that we had. Right now, we're really happy with her, and hopefully we can continue winning with her.”

While Songbird was forced to miss the May 6 GI Kentucky Oaks after developing a fever, Cash is King LLC's 'TDN Rising Star' Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss) took home the early season prize in her absence. The Cotillion will mark the first head-to-head meeting between the pair, and locally owned and trained Cathryn Sophia holds a home-track advantage, having annexed the one-mile Princess of Sylmar S. in Bensalem Sept. 3. The Maryland-bred millionaire has never finished out of the trifecta in eight lifetime starts.

“The comeback race was perfect,” commented trainer John Servis. “It didn't take much out of her and it set her up good for this race.”

Completing the 'Rising Star' triad is Three Chimneys Farm's Carina Mia (Malibu Moon), who earned her stripes at the highest level in the GI Acorn S. at Belmont June 11–a race in which Cathryn Sophia finished third. Conditioned by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the talented filly gave Songbird a brief test in the CCA Oaks before evening out to finish a distant second, and most recently checked in third facing her elders in the seven-furlong GI Ballerina S. Aug. 27.

Reddam Racing's Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road) finished behind Songbird in five consecutive races earlier in her career and escaped Southern California to win the GII Fair Grounds Oaks and complete the exacta behind Cathryn Sophia in the Kentucky Oaks. The Doug O'Neill trainee has failed to factor in two subsequent starts and returns to the East Coast in hopes of regaining her best form.

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