Bird Song Represented By First Winner at Churchill

Marylou Whitney Stables' homebred Pretty Birdie (Bird Song) became the first winner for her expatriated sire (by Unbridled's Song) with a good-looking box-to-wire tally on Churchill debut Friday afternoon.

Taking good pari-mutuel action as a 43-10 chance, the gray filly hit the ground running and clicked off an opening couple of furlongs in :22.16. Traveling well within the grasp of Joe Talamo for the run around the turn, Pretty Birdie was ridden hands and heels into the final eighth of a mile and was kept to her task to score by 3 3/4 lengths. Penny Saver (Super Saver), backed into 2-1 from a 6-1 morning line, rallied from fourth to be second ahead of the regally bred Speedometer (Tapit), who checked into the turn and raced greenly in the lane.

Pretty Birdie is also the first starter for Bird Song, a son of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Bird Town (Cape Town), who posted one of his two career graded victories in the 2017 GII Alysheba S. beneath the Twin Spires. Bird Song stood early days at Gainesway before being sold to continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia last fall. Bird Song's 2-year-olds were well-received at public auction this spring, with a pair reaching six-figure pricetags.

Bird Sense, a two-time winner at the races, is a half-sister to GSP Bird Maker (Empire Maker) and foaled a full-brother to Pretty Birdie Jan. 21.

2nd-Churchill Downs, $99,058, Msw, 6-18, 2yo, f, 5f, :57.28, ft, 3 3/4 lengths.
PRETTY BIRDIE (f, 2, Bird Song–Bird Sense, by Street Sense) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,488. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Marylou Whitney Stables (Hendrickson); B-Marylou Whitney Stables LLC (KY); T-Norm W Casse.

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Grade 2 Winner Bird Song Sold To Stand In Saudi Arabia

Multiple stakes winner Bird Song (Unbridled's Song – Bird Town) has been purchased to continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia in a deal brokered by Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock.

The 7-year-old son of Unbridled's Song previously stood at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. His oldest crop are yearlings of 2020.

Trained by Ian Wilkes on behalf of famed breeder Marylou Whitney, Bird Song won five races, including the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs. That gate-to-wire victory over Honorable Duty, Noble Bird, and American Freedom capped an excellent 4-year-old campaign that also saw him win the G3 Fred W. Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park and run placed in the G3 Hal's Hope and Ben Ali Stakes.

Bird Song boasts a pedigree out of the top drawer as a son of Marylou Whitney's champion Kentucky Oaks heroine Bird Town. In turn, that daughter of Cape Town is a half-sister to Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, subsequently a classic-producing sire.

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Bird Song Sold to Saudi Arabia

Multiple graded stakes winner Bird Song (Unbridled’s Song–Bird Town, by Cape Town) has been purchased to continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia in a deal brokered by Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock. The 7-year-old previously stood at Gainesway Farm, with his oldest crop being yearlings of this year.

Trained by Ian Wilkes on behalf of Marylou Whitney, Bird Song won the GII Alysheba S. and GIII Fred W. Hooper S. as a 4-year-old in 2017 and finished his career with over $500,000 in earnings. His dam, who captured the GI Kentucky Oaks in 2013, is a half to 2004 GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Birdstone (Grindstone), who also stood at Gainesway until being pensioned to Old Friends last year.

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