2016 Kentucky Oaks - Songbird Pedigree Profile

It’s all over except for the unanimous voting. SONGBIRD, the best two-year-old filly in the West, met up with the best fillies in the east in the Breeders’ Cup. All the field saw was a fading view of Songbird’s hindquarters as she romped in the BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES by 5 ½ lengths. Her victory capped off a perfect four race season and will earn Songbird an Eclipse Award as Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. 

Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro - Ivanavinalot, by West Acre) was bred by JOHN ANTONELLI, caught the eye of Rick Porter of FOX HILL FARMS last year at the Fasig Tipton August Preferred Sale in New York, and he submitted the winning bid of $400,000. Porter has experience spotting talented fillies. His stable has campaigned 2011 Horse of the Year & Eclipse Older Female Havre de Grace, Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles, Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Round Pond, and Alabama Stakes winner Jostle. Porter also owned Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Hard Spun and 2009 champion sprinter Kodiak Kowboy, plus many other high class stakes horses. Songbird was handed to Northern California trainer JERRY HOLLENDORFER for conditioning. Hollendorfer knows something about training top class fillies, as wekk. His charges have won the Kentucky Oaks three times and one of his fillies, Blind Luck, won an Eclipse Award as Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Sire

On the Track

MEDAGLIA D'ORO (El Prado (IRE) - Cappucino Bay, by Bailjumper) ran once as a two year old, finishing second in a sprint in December. Trained by the patient legendary Bobby Frankel, the large dark bay colt surfaced on the 2002 Triple Crown trail. Medaglia d'Oro raced only twice before the Kentucky Derby, and the colt finished fourth in the classic race. He was unplaced in the Preakness, but rebounded to take second place in the Belmont Stakes.  Medaglia d'Oro’s weakness on the track was that he wasn’t a true 1 ¼ mile horse. In six starts at 1 ¼ mile or farther, he was victorious only once, capturing the Travers Stakes on a sloppy track against a weak field.  Medaglia d'Oro race twice in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, finishing second both times. He was also second in the Dubai World Cup.  Medaglia d'Oro raced for four years and retired to stud with a 17-8-7-0 ($5,754,720) record.

At Stud

Medaglia d'Oro was retired in 2004 and stood at Hill 'n' Dale Farm for an initial fee of $35,000. The stallion is popular with breeders and has seen his fee rise to $150,000 and currently stands at Darley USA.  Medaglia d'Oro has been among the top leading sires since 2008 when his first offspring hit the track. His first crop included Champion Filly Rachel Alexandra, whose daughter RACHEL’S VALENTINA was second to Songbird in the Juvenile Fillies. Medaglia d'Oro has sired two champions, 37 graded stakes winners and 73 stakes winners.

Medaglia d'Oro’s offspring are sound, durable runners and it isn’t uncommon to see his offspring winning at the highest level as four and five year olds. His offspring tend to improve with maturity and his precocious two-year-olds get even better at three -- Scary news for the opponents of Songbird.  

Even though Medaglia d'Oro gets a good proportion of winning colts and some of his sons are now doing well at stud, he has a reputation as a sire of fillies.  Three of his top five lifetime earners are fillies and he has eight of his fourteen Grade 1 winners are fillies, three of whom are in his top five lifetime earners. The majority of Medaglia d'Oro’s progeny are best up to 1 1/8 miles, over all surfaces, however, he does have a few winners at classic distances.  Most notably, Marketing Mix and the French Champion, Passion for Gold, both of whom are graded stakes winners at 1 ½ miles over the lawn.

Distaff Line

Songbird’s precocity and dominance on the race track echoes that of her distaff line. The mares Bowl of Flowers and Gallant Bloom, champions as two and three-year-olds, can be found in Songbird’s fifth generation. The full brothers Graustark and His Majesty, prominent sires and broodmare sires are also found in her fifth generation.

The class isn’t immediately evident in Songbird’s female family. Her first dam, Ivanavinalot, is a blacktype earner and the only one of Songbirds’ first five dams to do so. Songbird’s pedigree is an example of class skipping generations.

Songbird has one unnamed full sibling and five half siblings of racing age. Only two made it to the racetrack, and are claiming class runners. Wide Range (Mineshaft), an unraced half sister to Songbird, bore the graded stakes winning sprinter Mico Margarita. Songbird has a 2015 half sister by Ghostzapper.    

Songbird is a daughter of the precocious multiple stakes winner IVANAVINALOT (West Acre - Beaty Sark, by Deputy Minister).  Under the guidance of trainer Kathleen O'Connell, the precocious filly won five of six starts as a two year old, including two legs of the Florida Stallion Series Stakes the Brave Raj stakes. As a three-year-old, Ivanavinalot hit the board in the My Charmer (G-3) and the listed John Deere Oaks before winning the 1 1/8 mile Bonnie Miss Stakes (G-2). In her Grade 1 debut in the Ashland Stakes, the filly was bumped so hard at the start of the race that she almost fell and was eased. She was never the same after that, hitting the board just once in eight starts. Ivanavinalot retired at four with an 18-6-2-1 ($647,300) race record.

The mare was offered at auction twice as a broodmare, once in 2004 and recently at the 2015 Fasig Tipton November Sale. She failed to meet her reserve both times.

Ivanavinalot is a half sister to three blacktype earners.  Two half sisters are listed stakes winning sprinters, Shananie's Beat, an earner of $242,758 in 38 starts, and Slick Lady, who has earned $166,504 in 26 starts. Another half sister, Beaties for Real, earned $42,885 in nine starts. She is the dam of four stakes winners, including the graded stakes winners Friel's For Real and Ryan's For Real.  Ivanavinalot’s half sister Judy’s Turn to Fly bore the stakes winning sprinter West Coast Flyer, by West Acre.

Songbirds’ third and fourth dams bore some minor stakes winners, but the class lies with her fifth dam, Floral Park. Floral Park herself never bore a blacktype runner, however, her daughters are good producers, giving us two-time Champion Female Sprinter, Groupie Doll and Demoiselle S (G-1) heroine Rootentootenwooten.

Broodmare Sire

Breeders Gilbert and Marilyn Campbell of Stonehedge Farm South took a chance with an unraced stallion named WEST ACRE (Forty Niner-Narrate, by Honest Pleasure). The horse had excellent bloodlines, as he’s out of the blue hen Narrate, dam of Grade 1 winner Preach, who is the dam of the late top sire Pulpit. World Champ Johannesburg and popular sire Tale of the Cat are also part of this elite stallion-making distaff line.

West Acre quickly set about siring winners. He had only four foals in his first crop, but all four were winners. His second crop included Songbird’s dam Ivanavinalot and Tampa Bay Derby winner Watch Me Go. West Acre died in 2012, but during his time at stud, the stallion sired over thirty blacktype winners. West Acre is slowly being recognized as a broodmare sire. Besides Songbird, his daughters have produced twelve other blacktype earners. 

West Acre has a special affinity for this distaff line. Besides Ivanavinalot and West Coast Flyer, West Acre produced the stakes placed Forty Nine Acres from a half sister to Songbird’s second dam.

Songbird’s second damsire Deputy Minister (Vice Regent – Mint Copy, by Bunty’s Flight) has been among the top leading broodmare sires for years and was a leading broodmare sire in 2007.  Deputy Minister was a two-time Champion at two and three.  

Outlook

At the Breeders’ Cup, Songbird immediately caught the eye. The large, well-muscled filly’s body could be mistaken for an older filly or even a colt. Songbird’s conformation favors that of her sire Medaglia d'Oro. She has a naturally long stride and a high cruising speed. Even as a yearling, she had the physical aspect of an older horse.

How would Songbird handle a head to head fight? Nobody knows. They haven’t gotten close enough to find out. Her shortest winning margin was 4 ½ lengths in the Chandler Stakes. The scary part is that Songbird will undoubtedly grow and fill out during the winter and her early three-year-old season.  Perhaps a filly under the radar will spring up next year to give Songbird a serious test. Songbird should comfortably handle the 1 1/8 miles of the Kentucky Oaks, and we can dare to dream that she could handle the colts in the Kentucky Derby.