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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Mike Smith has ridden some of the best female horses of all time -- four, in fact, who are in the Hall of Fame, including Zenyatta, whose induction takes place in less than three weeks.Smith, a Hall of Famer himself and still going strong at age 50, has found another fabulous filly in Songbird, who is undefeated in eight career starts. She will put that streak on the line Sunday in the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, where she will meet four rivals, including Grade 1 winners Carina Mia and Weep No More.Songbird has won her eight starts by a combined 42 1/2 lengths. Shes done it with breathtaking ease, eliciting comparisons to some of the best Smith has ridden. That list includes champions and Hall of Famers Azeri, an 11-time Grade 1 winner; Inside Information, a six-time Grade 1 winner; Sky Beauty, a nine-time Grade 1 winner; and Zenyatta, a 13-time Grade 1 winner.The comparisons, however, are coming from other Hall of Fame riders. Smith said hes heard from retired jockeys Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Jerry Bailey, and Jacinto Vasquez -- the regular rider of the brilliant Ruffian -- to talk Songbird.I had the best of the best riders call me after shes run, a lot of them retired, saying she might be the best filly theyve ever seen, Smith said in a recent interview. I had Pat Day call me out of the blue one day and say, Is she really that good? Chris McCarron has come out and said, She might be better than any of them youve ridden.Since Songbird is just midway through her 3-year-old season, its understandable that Smith stops short of putting her in the elite category. For now.She still has a lot to prove to get to not just one of them but several of them, Smith said. Ive been that blessed to have ridden that many good fillies. Ive ridden some fillies that in their time, they were just unbeatable as far as fillies are concerned. I mean, no one was going to beat Sky Beauty in her time. No one was going to beat Inside Information in her time. No one was going to beat Jersey Girl when she was good - people forget about her. No one was going to beat Azeri, and no one was definitely going to beat Zenyatta. They were just all that good in their time.Smith himself brought up how difficult a decision it would be if, in their prime, that group met in a race.Just because Ive been on them doesnt mean Im going to pick the right one, Smith said. You get a little sentimental about this or that, and the next thing you know, youve taken off the wrong horse. I mean, how many times have we done that? Over and over again.Smith doesnt have a difficult time discussing what makes Songbird so good.Shes extremely intelligent -- shes really, really a smart filly, Smith said. Man, you show her one time, and shes got it, and she just gets better at it, and thats been from Day 1. Every work was better, every race was better, the way she handled it, and shes just extremely talented. So well balanced, her mechanics, theres no wasted action. What she does thats the norm for her is very difficult, it seems like, for other fillies, which is mechanics, which is the way she does things. She just gets over the ground so effortless.Songbird, a daughter of Medaglia dOro trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Rick Porters Fox Hill Farm, won her first seven races on the lead. In her most recent start, the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita on June 18, she stalked the filly Bellamentary, ridden by Martin Garcia, for a few furlongs before taking control.Last time, they thought, Well, were going to get in front of her; well show her, Smith said. That was the best thing that ever happened. I was telling Martin, Go ahead, I dont want to be here. I wanted to be farther back.Smith said he wouldnt mind seeing Songbird rate again Sunday, but its hard to imagine any of her four rivals being able to outrun her early.Id love for someone to get in front of her, Smith said. Theyre just going to have to run a little quicker than 45 [seconds] to do it.Songbird arrived at Saratoga on Wednesday night following a flight from Southern California that made stops in Denver and Lexington, Ky. The flight was delayed from Ontario Airport near Los Angeles because another horse acted up and needed to be unloaded. Songbird arrived at Saratoga just before 8 p.m. Eastern.On Thursday, Songbird was on the track at 5:40 a.m. for a 1-1/8-mile jog.Shes feeling good, said Christina Jelm, who was overseeing Songbird here before Hollendorfer arrived Thursday afternoon. Usually when we ship, well jog the next day, but you want to make sure they eat their food and their temperatures good, so its just better to say, Lets make our final decision in the morning. Everything went perfect. She ate up, she was happy, with her head out [of the stall] in the morning, so Jerry said, Go to the track.Smith, who was the leading rider at Saratoga from 1991-93, said hes looking forward to Songbird performing before an East Coast crowd.I cant wait, he said. Just to show her to different people. I think racing certainly deserves it; true fans certainly deserve it. Its cool. Cheap Ecco Shoes Clearance . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. Discount Ecco Shoes Online . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. http://www.cheapecco.net/ . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Cheap Ecco Shoes Online . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Ecco Shoes Online Outlet . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week.A Test match century on his home ground, nine dismissals behind the stumps and a Man of the Match award in a Test for the first time - life for Jonny Bairstow is pretty good right now. However, the Yorkshiremans second century in the longest form of the game is but a continuation of some sublime form since the start of the 2015 English season, which actually kicked off with a duck in Abu Dhabi in the annual MCC versus champion county fixture.Since then though, Bairstow has played in 26 first-class games - for Yorkshire and England - and amassed an incredible 2,394 runs which only Australian Adam Voges has surpassed by just 141 runs, but in five more matches. Adam Voges is the only batsman to have scored more first-class runs than Bairstow since the start of the 2015 county season And if you make a comparison to the time taken for Bairstow to score the equivalent amount of runs previously, you are forced to go back to August 2012, a full two and a half years ago.Also, since March 2015, Bairstow has hit nine first-class centuries, more than any other batsman in the world and one more than the highly prolific Australian skipper Steve Smith.It should not be forgotten, in the hubbub of his outstanding batting innings that Bairstow too claimed nine dismissals behind the stumps and, but for a drop on the third morning, could have joined AB de Villiers as the only other to score a century and take 10 keeping scalps. Bairstow very nearly joined South Africas AB de Villiers as the only man to hit a hundred and take 10 catches in a Test It was truly an unforgettable match and occasion for Bairstow as it came on his home Headingley ground, in front of his mother Janet, a stalwart of cricket for many years and cricket administrator for Yorkshire CCC.ddddddddddddIn eight matches at Headingley since the start of the 2015 season, Bairstow has cracked 1,018 runs at 92.54 runs each, including five centuries in 12 innings. His nearest challenger is Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale, who sits a full 443 runs behind him on 575 (average 38.33) in nine games. Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale is someway behind Bairstow as the next-best run-scorer at Headingley But it has been in 2016 that his record at Headingley has gone through the stratosphere - or should that be the stat-osphere!Three matches, four innings, 589 runs, three centuries and an average of 147.25! Quite incredible figures and it is not even the end of May yet.England will be hoping that he will be able to continue this form for a long time to come.Watch Bairstow and England take on Sri Lanka in the second Investec Test at Chester-le-Street from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: Five things: Headingley Bairstows Toon training Jimmys Super Six WATCH: Players of the Test ' ' '