Songbird Headlines the 2016 Coaching Club American Oaks

The 2016 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) has attracted the unbeaten Champion Songbird for its 99^th running and thus will offer an enhanced purse of $500,000. For most of its illustrious history the CCA Oaks was run a Belmont Park at distances ranging from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. In 2010 the race was moved to Saratoga and the distance was changed to its present length of a mile and an eighth. Since this race, which is restricted to three-year-old fillies, moved Upstate it was been won by the likes of Curalina, Stopchargingmaria, Princess of Sylmar, and Questing in the past four years.

With the presence of Songbird, a field of only five horses was drawn. Here is a look at the field for the Coaching Club American Oaks, which will be run as race 10.

Songbird [Fox Hill Farm, Rick Porter/Jerry Hollendorfer] – Songbird heads east to Saratoga for what will be only her second start on a track that is not located in California. The unbeaten Champion has already proven that she can travel, as she did at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. She has been training brilliantly; witness the dazzling 1:11.40 at Del Mar on Sunday, July 17.

This daughter of Medaglia d’Oro will be making her fifth start of 2016 at Saratoga, a track known for some of racing’s most historic upsets. Do I think that Songbird is going to lose at the Spa? No, no, I do not, but I didn’t think it was possible for Secretariat to lose to Onion in the 1973 Whitney. She will be making her first start on a NYRA track where the racing surfaces are very deep and tiring. Songbird has not faced any serious competition in 2016 and was geared down in the stretch in all of her starts this year. Do those two factors leave a little bit of a chance for the rest of the CCA Oaks starters? Maybe, just maybe.

The CCA Oaks field is likely to be small, even with the enhanced purse. This year Songbird has been sent off at odds of .05, .10, .05, and .05 to 1. So with the likes of Carina Mia in the field, her odds on Sunday, of about 1-2, will actually be significantly higher than in any start this year. Top Choice

Carina Mia [Three Chimneys Farm/Bill Mott] – Carina Mia, who will be the CCA Oaks second choice at odds of around 3-1, has the home track advantage. This daughter of Malibu Moon has been training at Saratoga since May. Her last seven workouts have been on the Oklahoma training track including her most recent breeze on July 15 that was a speedy 59.22 for five furlongs. Bill Mott runners typically do not train that quickly, nor does Oklahoma produce many times that fast. Carina Mia shipped down to Belmont Park from Saratoga for her most recent victory in the Acorn (G1) against a very strong field that included Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia, Off the Tracks, Go Maggie Go, and Rachel’s Valentina. With the addition of Lasix, Carina Mia has run the best two races of her career in the Acorn and before that in the Eight Belles (G2).

Carina Mia has learned to harness her speed and win from off the early pace, which means that Songbird could face a challenge down the stretch and that has not happened this year. Carina Mia will be ridden by Julien Leparoux, who is currently one of the hottest riders in the country.

The mile and an eighth distance will be the longest in Carina Mia’s career. She has won around two turns as evidenced in her first graded stakes win on a sloppy Churchill Downs track in the Golden Rod (G2) as a two-year-old. Chance to Upset the Champ

Flora Dora [Coffee Pot Stables/Marialice Coffey] – Since she won the Busanda at Aqueduct in January, this daughter of First Dude is winless in five tries that include the Gazelle (G2) and Black-Eyed Susan (G2) in which she was no factor. A recent second in an allowance was an improvement for this filly that is based at Saratoga. Longshot

Weep No More [Glenn S. Bromagen/Rusty Arnold] – No doubt that this daughter of Mineshaft will be facing the greatest challenge of her six race career in the Coaching Club. She does have a victory over Carina Mia to her credit in the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland in April 2016. In that race as a 30-1 longshot she also beat Rachel’s Valentina and Cathryn Sophia when there was an early pace meltdown. Her three race win streak came to an end with a seventh place finish in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). She has been training smartly at Keeneland with a recent 1:13.60 six furlong workout. Possible top 3 finish

Mo d’Amour [King of Prussia Stable/Todd Pletcher] – Owned by the King of Prussia Stable, which won this race with Princess of Sylmar, Mo d’Amour has lots of experience against top horses. Most recently she ran fourth in the Mother Goose. Earlier in the year this Uncle Mo filly won the Busher and got third in the Gazelle (G2) at Aqueduct. Chance for third