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bobphilo
09-23-2016, 04:00 PM
I just found out that Songbird was named in honor of Eva Cassidy who sang this song so beautifully. She tragically died very young of cancer but her memories lives on in her music and in this great filly.
Here's the link to this video as well as her moving rendition of Fields of Gold.
Hard to listen to with dry eyes.
Every time I see Songbird running these beautiful lyrics will echo in my ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj3aVGCZ_v0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDuye_qB-2o

VeryOldMan
09-23-2016, 04:10 PM
Your first link came up busted (for me) - here's a backup link to Songbird just in case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTNLYeaL7No

Eva Cassidy was a Marylander who died way too young. Very cool to learn Songbird was named after her - thanks for the post.

CincyHorseplayer
09-23-2016, 07:30 PM
Pretty cool Bob. I have a slew of women singers I love. Can't live without em!

bobphilo
09-23-2016, 09:01 PM
Thanks guys. I was starting to think that anything not strictly relating to filthy lucre and the greedy pursuit of profits was of no interest here.

RunForTheRoses
09-23-2016, 09:32 PM
Nice, I did not know that. Her Somewhere Over the Rainbow is amazing.

bobphilo
09-23-2016, 11:03 PM
Here's a news story about about her short life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXU219b3Zdw

bobphilo
09-24-2016, 05:10 PM
Songbird just made it a perfect 11 for 11 by wining the Cotillion against the top 3YO fillies with ease. Eva Cassidy would have been proud. :)

VeryOldMan
09-24-2016, 07:57 PM
Songbird just made it a perfect 11 for 11 by wining the Cotillion against the top 3YO fillies with ease. Eva Cassidy would have been proud. :)

Amen my man. Thanks again for posting the connection.

JustRalph
09-24-2016, 09:31 PM
She looked bigger today. Looks like she is still growing

bobphilo
09-25-2016, 04:12 PM
She looked bigger today. Looks like she is still growing
Yep, 3YOs are the equivalent of teenagers and most are still growing.
It's a shame that her connections will not run against males. She has run out of competition against her gender in her age group but will never get the chance to show what she can do against colts.

Fager Fan
09-25-2016, 10:46 PM
Yep, 3YOs are the equivalent of teenagers and most are still growing.
It's a shame that her connections will not run against males. She has run out of competition against her gender in her age group but will never get the chance to show what she can do against colts.

You're thinking she should run in the Classic? I'd never consider running a 3yo filly there.

classhandicapper
09-26-2016, 12:00 PM
It's a shame that her connections will not run against males. She has run out of competition against her gender in her age group but will never get the chance to show what she can do against colts.

Beholder will be plenty enough of a challenge in the Distaff. We already know that Beholder is competitive with high level older Grade 1 males. So "if" she can handler Beholder (which will be no easy task), then it will make sense to try her against older males next year. If she can handle that, then the Classic is an option at the end of next year.

No reason to throw her straight into the biggest fire yet without testing her at some of the levels in between. The one difference between her and Rachel is that Rachel was further along at this stage. This filly is moving along a little slower, but she may be just as good or better before it's all over. She was certainly really good right from the start and is still getting better. We'll see.

bobphilo
09-26-2016, 12:04 PM
You're thinking she should run in the Classic? I'd never consider running a 3yo filly there.
Never say never.
In Europe top fillies are run against top colts all the time and win their share.
I never said she should run in the Classic this year. The point is her connections have no intention of ever running her against males ever.

bobphilo
09-26-2016, 12:10 PM
Beholder will be plenty enough of a challenge in the Distaff. We already know that Beholder is competitive with high level older Grade 1 males. So "if" she can handler Beholder (which will be no easy task), then it will make sense to try her against older males next year. If she can handle that, then the Classic is an option at the end of next year.

No reason to throw her straight into the biggest fire yet without testing her at some of the levels in between. The one difference between her and Rachel is that Rachel was further along at this stage. This filly is moving along a little slower, but she may be just as good or better before it's all over. She was certainly really good right from the start and is still getting better. We'll see.
I did not say she should run in this year's Classic. Perhaps if she had won in open company earlier, but her connections never gave her the chance.
Hopefully, they'll take a more enlightened attitude next year.

Fager Fan
09-26-2016, 01:29 PM
Never say never.
In Europe top fillies are run against top colts all the time and win their share.
I never said she should run in the Classic this year. The point is her connections have no intention of ever running her against males ever.

You understand the pace difference and strength requirement difference between dirt and turf, I hope.

Regarding your last statement, what are you talking about? Porter has said over and over that if she proves good enough that he'd want her to take on males next year. He ran Eight Belles in the Derby and Havre de Grace in the Woodward and Classic. What owner comes close to running multiple females in top spots in recent years? So there's no reason to not trust what he says.

bobphilo
09-26-2016, 02:47 PM
You understand the pace difference and strength requirement difference between dirt and turf, I hope.

Regarding your last statement, what are you talking about? Porter has said over and over that if she proves good enough that he'd want her to take on males next year. He ran Eight Belles in the Derby and Havre de Grace in the Woodward and Classic. What owner comes close to running multiple females in top spots in recent years? So there's no reason to not trust what he says.
The difference between dirt and turf is that on dirt the they go fast early and on turf they go fast late. Studies have shown that fillies average only a couple of lengths slower than colts on dirt. Not a big difference for exceptional fillies to make up. Actually because of the better traction on turf it favors horses with longer more powerful strides.
Porter was so shocked by what happened to Eight Belles in the Derby that he generalized that to all fillies and refused to have Songbird take on even a weak crop of colts. He went on record as to not even consider running her against colts. Traumatic events can make people do irrational things.
I'm glad to hear he plans to change his plans for the filly next year.

I have nothing against Porter. I feel his pain for what happened to Eight Belles and greatly admire how he named Songbird in honor of Eva Cassidy - which was my point in starting this thread.

Fager Fan
09-26-2016, 04:57 PM
The difference between dirt and turf is that on dirt the they go fast early and on turf they go fast late. Studies have shown that fillies average only a couple of lengths slower than colts on dirt. Not a big difference for exceptional fillies to make up. Actually because of the better traction on turf it favors horses with longer more powerful strides.
Porter was so shocked by what happened to Eight Belles in the Derby that he generalized that to all fillies and refused to have Songbird take on even a weak crop of colts. He went on record as to not even consider running her against colts. Traumatic events can make people do irrational things.
I'm glad to hear he plans to change his plans for the filly next year.

I have nothing against Porter. I feel his pain for what happened to Eight Belles and greatly admire how he named Songbird in honor of Eva Cassidy - which was my point in starting this thread.

The difference between turf and dirt is that the pace is fast the whole race on dirt. Sprints and turf are equalizers between the sexes.

VeryOldMan
09-26-2016, 05:43 PM
I have nothing against Porter. I feel his pain for what happened to Eight Belles and greatly admire how he named Songbird in honor of Eva Cassidy - which was my point in starting this thread.

This right here. People giving bobphilo grief need to check the original post and take a break, for crying out loud. Looking at you, Fager Fan.

We can resume the battle re the Classic once and if Songbird is entered. Can't we enjoy Songbird's run as it exists and appreciate Eva Cassidy's music? If you can't do that . . .

Fager Fan
09-26-2016, 06:55 PM
This right here. People giving bobphilo grief need to check the original post and take a break, for crying out loud. Looking at you, Fager Fan.

We can resume the battle re the Classic once and if Songbird is entered. Can't we enjoy Songbird's run as it exists and appreciate Eva Cassidy's music? If you can't do that . . .

Heaven forbid someone correct that "the connections will never ever take on males" when it was clearly wrong. I let it slide that the same poster then said the reason was Eight Belles when the owner has said repeatedly that EB had nothing to do with it. Better to let incorrect statements sit out there for others to believe than to correct them. Looking at you, OldMan.

VeryOldMan
09-26-2016, 07:09 PM
Looking at you, OldMan.
Did you read the original post - have you ever listened to Eva Cassidy? Not in the time it takes to Google her - did you ever listen to her music? That's what this thread was about originally. That's all. Hoping we can all have an argument down the road about Songbird.

ronsmac
09-26-2016, 07:10 PM
Beholder will be plenty enough of a challenge in the Distaff. We already know that Beholder is competitive with high level older Grade 1 males. So "if" she can handler Beholder (which will be no easy task), then it will make sense to try her against older males next year. If she can handle that, then the Classic is an option at the end of next year.

No reason to throw her straight into the biggest fire yet without testing her at some of the levels in between. The one difference between her and Rachel is that Rachel was further along at this stage. This filly is moving along a little slower, but she may be just as good or better before it's all over. She was certainly really good right from the start and is still getting better. We'll see.I thought Songbird was further along at an early stage than Rachel Alexandra. Songbird was already a champion and Rachel didn't fully blossom until the winter at the Fairgrounds.

Fager Fan
09-26-2016, 07:25 PM
Did you read the original post - have you ever listened to Eva Cassidy? Not in the time it takes to Google her - did you ever listen to her music? That's what this thread was about originally. That's all. Hoping we can all have an argument down the road about Songbird.

Why are you jumping all over me? It was the topic starter who made the comment about her never taking on males that I responded to. He wasn't sticking to the subject of just Eva Cassidy either. It's called a conversation, and I thought it was going just fine until you decided to make it a brawl.

VeryOldMan
09-26-2016, 07:41 PM
Why are you jumping all over me? It was the topic starter who made the comment about her never taking on males that I responded to. He wasn't sticking to the subject of just Eva Cassidy either. It's called a conversation, and I thought it was going just fine until you decided to make it a brawl.

Appreciated - just thought you were giving OP too much of a hard time. That's all. Wanna join me on the parlay of Songbird, Eva Cassidy and Dr Fager? :)

Fager Fan
09-26-2016, 07:58 PM
Appreciated - just thought you were giving OP too much of a hard time. That's all. Wanna join me on the parlay of Songbird, Eva Cassidy and Dr Fager? :)

Hardly a bad note can be found between the three. :)

VeryOldMan
09-26-2016, 08:13 PM
Hardly a bad note can be found between the three. :)
Amen! :)