Tag: Marylou Whitney Stables

Marylou Whitney Stables Homebred Debuts A Winner At Oaklawn

8th-Oaklawn, $115,000, Msw, 3-29, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:10.55, ft, 6 1/4 lengths.
TWEETSTER (f, 3, Practical Joke–Tweeterdini, by Bernardini) debuted with Lasix as the heavily backed 3-2 choice here. The homebred started slowly, but with the rail open she was able to lead the second pack up the backstretch. Rolling around the turn, the filly chased longshot Hurricane Fire (Can the Man), who appeared to be getting away. Moving from the rail towards the center of the course at the eighth pole, Tweetster closed like a freight train and won by 6 1/4 lengths. Out of an extended female family which includes champion 3-year-old filly Bird Town (Cape Town) and MGISW Birdstone (Grindstone), the winner's unraced dam is responsible for 2-year-old colt Spenard (Spun to Run). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $69,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O/B-Marylou Whitney Stables, LLC (KY); T-Norm W. Casse.

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Pretty Birdie Carries Marylou Whitney Stables Silks To Opening Day Schuylerville Victory

Marylou Whitney Stables' Pretty Birdie rocketed to a lead that she never relinquished, fending off 6-5 favorite Mainstay's stretch-drive challenge to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville for juvenile fillies by two lengths on Thursday, Opening Day, at Saratoga Race Course in  Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 103rd edition of the six-furlong Schuylerville fittingly saw the ownership group of the late Saratoga icon and philanthropist capture a graded stakes during the lid-lifter of the 40-day meet. To accomplish the feat, Pretty Birdie wasted no time breaking sharply from the inside post under Luis Saez, leading the seven-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.29 seconds, a half in 45.82 and three-quarters in 58.40 on the fast main track.

Mainstay, who broke from post 2 under Frankie Pennington and tracked in second position in every point of call, made a late bid out of the turn, but Saez kept his charge to task, completing the course in a 1:12.32 final time.

“This is where she felt the most alive,” said owner John Hendrickson, who was married to Whitney until her passing in July 2019. “This is the way she is alive and she has a win on opening day. It's pretty special. This is a dream come true for me and Marylou. Things getting back to normal and winning on Opening Day, she's throwing a party. She said 'I want to race, get back to work.'

“It means so much,” Hendrickson added. “The smiling faces and having Saratoga back the way it should be and having a win. It's very special.”

Pretty Birdie's gate-to-wire score was the second career graded stakes win for trainer Norm Casse and his first in New York. The Kentucky homebred, a daughter of Bird Song, improved to 2-for-2 following her debut win in June at Churchill Downs.

“I feel like she was a little more green today. She didn't want to switch leads down the lane,” Casse said. “I was a little bit concerned about that as she was finishing, but I think that was just her seeing a new place. This was the first time she had even come over here. I kept her on the Oklahoma [training track] side the entire week she's been here.”

Off at 5-2, Pretty Birdie returned $7.60 on a $2 win wager. Casse said the next target for her is the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway on September 5 at Saratoga.

“I think she was just gawking around and maybe even waiting on the other horse,” Casse said. “Those are things we'll fix before we run her in the Spinaway next.”

Saez won his second career Schuylerville, joining Off the Tracks in 2015.

“She's very fast,” said Saez, who finished the day with three wins. “I could feel it. She was on her toes. She broke from there pretty quick and we controlled the pace. When we came to the top of the stretch, she was running. I was pretty happy with her.

“She was a little tired [late in the lane] but she was go,” he added. “Nice filly.”

Mainstay, a half-sister to reigning 2-year-old champion filly Vequist trained by Butch Reid, Jr. was a 7 3/4-length first-out winner in June at Monmouth Park. Making her Saratoga bow, the Astern filly finished 5 1/4 lengths clear of Saucy Lady T for second.

“I think she ran well,” Reid, Jr. said. “It was a quality horse that beat her. My jockey was a little upset that she wasn't standing quite right in the gate and they snapped it before she was really ready. She had one leg that was underneath the next stall. I think maybe if she breaks a little better, who knows, but she didn't get away from the gate clean.”

Velvet Sister, Cartel Queen, Eagle Express and Queen Camilla completed the order of finish. Pipeline Girl and Happy Soul, the 8-5 morning-line favorite, scratched.

Live racing resumes Friday with a 10-race card highlighted by the Grade 3, $150,000 Forbidden Apple for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the inner turf in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:05 p.m.

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Bird Song Filly Flies Away with Schuylerville in Whitney Colors

Pretty Birdie, the first and only winner thus far from just 22 first-crop foals for his already expatriated sire (by Unbridled's Song), zipped to the front and ran them off their feet to take Thursday's GIII Schuylerville S. at the Spa in the silks of the late Saratoga legend Marylou Whitney.

The grey had earned a field's-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure for a clear debut score at Churchill June 18, and was backed as the second choice behind 'TDN Rising Star' Mainstay, the half-sister to last year's champion 2-year-old filly Vequist (Nyquist) who aired on debut at Monmouth.

Clearing off by a few lengths after breaking from the rail, Pretty Birdie was pursued by Mainstay through splits of :22.29 and :45.82. The leader never switched her leads, and Mainstay got a bit green late herself, as Pretty Birdie found the wire two lengths to the good.

“It means so much. The smiling faces and having Saratoga back the way it should be and having a win. It's very special,” said Whitney's widower John Hendrickson. “This is where she felt the most alive. This is the way she is alive and she has a win on opening day. It's pretty special. This is a dream come true for me and Marylou. Things getting back to normal and winning on Opening Day, she's throwing a party. She said 'I want to race, get back to work.'”

Trainer Norm Casse's first graded stakes win also came for Whitney, just a month before she died, with Hard Legacy (Hard Spun) in the 2019 GIII Regret S.

“I feel like she was a little more green today,” the son of Hall of Famer Mark Casse said. “She didn't want to switch leads down the lane. I was a little bit concerned about that as she was finishing, but I think that was just her seeing a new place. This was the first time she had even come over here. I kept her on the Oklahoma [training track] side the entire week she's been here… I think she was just gawking around and maybe even waiting on the other horse. Those are things we'll fix before we run her in the [Sept. 5 GI] Spinaway next.”

As for the importance of winning this race for this owner, Casse said, “I put a lot of pressure on myself today. I thought this was the story of the day. If we could win the race for Marylou Whitney and John today with Saratoga opening back up, that it would mean the world for a lot of people and thankfully, Pretty Birdie delivered for us… Most of the time in horse racing it doesn't work out the way you hope, but today it did.”

Thursday, Saratoga
SCHUYLERVILLE S.-GIII, $150,000, Saratoga, 7-15, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:12.32, ft.
1–PRETTY BIRDIE, 120, f, 2, by Bird Song
                1st Dam: Bird Sense, by Street Sense
                2nd Dam: Bird Harbor, by Boston Harbor
                3rd Dam: Dearest Gulch, by Gulch
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Marylou
Whitney Stables (Hendrickson); B-Marylou Whitney Stables
LLC (KY); T-Norm W. Casse; J-Luis Saez. $82,500. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $139,988. *First SW for freshman sire. Werk Nick Rating: C+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mainstay, 120, f, 2, Astern (Aus)–Vero Amore, by Mineshaft.
'TDN Rising Star' O-Swilcan Stable LLC & LC Racing; B-Swilcan
Stables (KY); T-Robert E. Reid, Jr. $30,000.
3–Saucy Lady T, 120, f, 2, Tonalist–Fila Primera, by War Front.
($5,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman & Stuart
Tsujimoto; B-R. S. Evans (KY); T-James K. Chapman. $18,000.
Margins: 2, 5 1/4, 8HF. Odds: 2.80, 1.30, 18.10.
Also Ran: Velvet Sister, Cartel Queen, Eagle Express, Queen Camilla. Scratched: Happy Soul, Pipeline Girl. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Pretty Birdie is a product of the Whitney program top and bottom. Bird Song took the 2017 GIII Fred Hooper S. and GII Alysheba S. in the eton blue and brown, and is out of 2003 GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and champion 3-year-old filly Bird Town (Cape Town). Bird Song, who began his stud career at Gainesway, was exported to Saudi Arabia before this past breeding season.

Two-time winner Bird Sense, meanwhile, counts Broodmare of the Year Dear Birdie (Storm Bird)–the dam of both Bird Town and GI Belmont S./GI Travers S. hero Birdstone (Grindstone)–as her third dam.

“She's inbred to Dear Birdie 3×4,” Noted Hendrickson. “That broodmare has proved successful for us again. She produced Bird Town and Birdstone.”

Bird Sense produced a full brother to Pretty Birdie in January before being bred back to Far From Over.

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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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