Songbird, Mor Spirit add to leaderboard totals with winning sophomore debuts

Songbird, Mor Spirit add to leaderboard totals with winning

sophomore debuts

Songbird continued to dominate the filly division on Saturday with an effortless

win in the Las Virgenes S. (G2) at Santa Anita Park. The Jerry Hollendorfer

pupil was making her three-year-old bow in the contest and was never challenged

en route to a 6 1/2-length victory.

Mor Spirit confirmed his status as a top Kentucky Derby contender,

proving too good for his Robert B. Lewis (G3) rivals on Saturday at Santa

Anita Park. Trained by five-time

Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert and ridden by Gary Stevens, a three-time

scorer in the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Pennsylvania-bred son of

Eskendreya finished second when making his stakes debut in the Kentucky Jockey

Club (G2) at Churchill Downs and was exiting a victory in the Los Alamitos

Futurity (G1).

In the San Antonio (G2),

Hoppertunity out-bobbed Imperative in a thrilling finish, snapping a

nine-race losing streak as the 9-5 favorite. Ridden by Flavien Prat, the Bob

Baffert-trained 5-year-old is now headed to March 26 Dubai World Cup at Meydan.

Flamboyant closed out the stakes action at Santa Anita on Saturday by earning

his second straight graded score with a three-quarter length victory in the San

Marcos S. (G2).

Marquee Miss joined the Kentucky Oaks (G1) leaderboard when upsetting Oaklawn

Park's Martha Washington S. at 12-1. The Ingrid Mason trainee just got the

best of 1-2 favorite Nickname to earn 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky

Oaks.

At Gulfstream Park, Mshawish stamped his ticket for the $10 million Dubai World

Cup (G1) with a two-length victory in the $500,000 Donn H. (G1). It was the

second graded stakes win on dirt in a row for the six-year-old, whose previous

career highlight had been a narrow victory in the 2015 Gulfstream Park Turf H.

(G1). Favorite Keen Ice, conqueror of American Pharoah in last year's Travers

(G1) and also prepping for the World Cup, finished sixth.

One race earlier,

Lukes Alley pulled off a minor upset in the $350,000 Gulfstream Park Turf H.,

improving on a recent second in the Ft. Lauderdale (G2). Even-money favorite The

Pizza Man, an Eclipse Award finalist for champion turf male last season after

winning the Arlington Million (G1), finished a dull fifth. In other graded turf

action,

Tammy the Torpedo led wire-to-wire in the Suwannee River (G3) for fillies

and mares.

Earlier in the day at Gulfstream, female sprint champion finalist

Lady Shipman made a successful debut for new trainer Kiaran McLaughlin in the

$75,000 Ladies Turf Sprint as she prepares for a trip to Dubai for the Al

Quoz Sprint (G1). Other stakes winners on the card were Tommy Macho in the Fred

W. Hooper (G3) and Power Alert in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint.

Synchrony and Bird of Trey both put in their final major moves at Oaklawn Park

on Saturday ahead of the February 15 Southwest S. (G3).

Mo Tom and Tom's Ready

recorded workouts at Fair Grounds Saturday for the upcoming TwinSpires.com Risen

Star (G2).