Birdatthewire captures Gulfstream Park Oaks

"(Ortiz) said she was too sharp for him, and I think he was worried about the

pace. I just told him, 'When we go to the Kentucky Oaks, let's just try to get

her to relax.' I'll work on her between now and then and try to get her off the

bit a little bit, and she's been so successful here and trained so sharply. We

just have to get her to turn off a little bit."

"She got very strong

from the first turn to the backside," Ortiz explained. "She's been running sprints, seven-eighths,

a mile, but still she was sharp. She was so strong on the backside, I was trying

to get her to relax, because she comes from behind -- that's her race. I tried to

do my best to wait; she was pulling, but when I asked her to run, she took off.

She was ready.

"I wasn't sure she would have energy for the end, but she was. Not

too many horses do that. She was much the best today."

Ekati's Phaeton (Tale of Ekati) handed Birdatthewire her loss in the Davona

Dale when wiring that one-mile contest, and attempted to pull off the same feat

while making her two-turn debut in the Gulfstream Park Oaks. The dark bay filly

took command from the start on Saturday and proceeded to set splits of : 23 4/5

and :48 1/5 with Eskenformoney and Devine Aida (Unbridled's Song) staying in

close attendance.

The constant pressure took its toll on Ekati's Phaeton, who began fading

after three-quarters and eventually was eased in the stretch to be last. Eskenformoney had gained control by this point, but

Birdatthewire was closing strong on the far outside. The filly strode on home

after wresting command of the race away from Eskenformoney, who took second by

three parts of a length over season debuter Danessa Deluxe (Summer Bird). Devine

Aida followed by another six lengths. Those latter three earned 40-20-10 points,

respectively, for the Kentucky Oaks.

"She looked a little tough on the front end," trainer Bill Kaplan said in

regards to his filly, Ekati's Phaeton. "(Jockey Luis Saez) said she pulled up

good, and that's the main thing.

"We'll probably go back to sprinting. I think she's a hell of a sprinter. I

left it up to him to do whatever he saw fit. He said she was comfortable up

there. It looked to me like he had a little bit of hold on her. She's a classy

filly."

Birdatthewire now boasts a pair of stakes wins, having opened her sophomore

campaign with a 3 1/4-length victory in the Forward Gal S. (G2) on January 24.

That was also her first stakes try, as the bay lass closed out her

two-year-old season with a maiden win in her fourth career try. Her line

now stands at 7-3-2-1 and she's banked $346,010 lifetime.

"She should improve with distance. The farther they go, the

better," Romans said. "The tough thing about a horse like that (with her running style), is

that you are always going to get in trouble. So it was good to see that she

could overcome that adversity. When you have to pass that many horses every

time, you're going to have troubled trips."

Bred in Kentucky by Lynn and Kathy Jones, Birdatthewire was purchased for

$23,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall yearling. That followed a pair of RNA

prices offered for her at Keeneland January ($22,000) and Fasig-Tipton Kentucky

July ($37,000).

She is out of the stakes-placed My Limit (Wagon Limit) and comes from the

same female family as multiple Grade 2 winner Who's to Pay (Believe It) as well

as that one's Grade 2-scoring half-brother, Lights and Music (Majestic Light).

Birdatthewire's fifth dam is a full sister to champion and influential sire

Raise a Native (Native Dancer).

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