Out of luck in two starts since kick-starting her career with three wins culminating in the Group II MVRC Moonee Valley Classic, Skybird burst back into the winner’s circle in Saturday’s Group II Sportsbet Tobin Bronze Stakes at Morphettville and earned a likely shot at the Group 1 Goodwood on May 18.
Ridden by Beau Mertens for Mitch Freedman, the daughter of Exosphere powered down the centre of the track to defeat the confidently backed I Am Invincible filly Moesha, who came from the tail of the field to be beaten one and three-quarter lengths. The Not A Single Doubt colt Pivot City was three-quarters of a length back in third.
A $110,000 purchase for her trainer from the HP Thoroughbreds draft at the 2022 Inglis Classic yearling Sale, Highway Session, Skybird advances her record to four wins and a third from six starts with earnings of $498,625
“We came here about five years ago with Broadway And Forth, and she was pretty stiff not to get a result, Mitch Freedman revealed.
“We had a specific plan to come to this race or the Sangster, but we thought the Sangster was heating up with the prize money on offer.
“If she comes through it well enough, we might come back in two weeks.
“I know she has a bit of improvement to come, so she could come and compete in that race (Goodwood) and get the weight advantage, being a filly.
“I think you’ll find 1400 metres will be her best distance, or 1300 maybe, that 1200 to 1400 will be right for her. I’m not sure she runs a mile. If she runs a mile, she must be covered up and exposed late, like at The Valley.
“She’s only tasted defeat twice, and the other day at Bendigo, things were against her and the Thousand Guineas. She’s a very good filly with plenty of upside.
“Dan Clarken has looked after her here, and she’s settled in. She’s handled the travel in an excellent fashion. She’s still a little bit quirky, so a trip like this will do her a world of good, and the Queensland Carnival is on the horizon. We’ve looked at all that, so we’ll keep mapping out our path and see how we go.
“We’ve got an ultimate goal of trying to get to the Golden Eagle, so that’s on our radar and we’ll see how we get there.”
Skybird is the best of three winners from as many to race from the winning Wanted mare Real Desire.
A half-sister to stakes-placed winner Flying Along, Real Desire is out of a half-sister to Captain Bax and Snippets Lass, the dam of Snippets, Hinchinbrook, Viennese and Weiner, dam of G1 Epsom Handicap winner Rediener, and Royal Snippets, the granddam of Private Eye.
Real Desire has a yearling colt by Deep Field, a $260,000 purchase for McEvoy Mitchell Racing / Belmont Bloodstock Agency (FBAA) from the HP Thoroughbreds draft at the 2024 Inglis Classic yearling Sale.
A $30,000 purchase for Viki Brown at the 2016 National Broodmare Sale, Real Desire was covered by Pierro last spring.
Skybird is one of 11 stakes-winners for Oaklands Stud’s Group 1 winning Lonhro stallion Exosphere, which stood for $6,600 last spring.
