Art Collector | Horse Racing Free Tips

Swiss Skydiver Vaults To Third Position In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver made history this past weekend when she became just the sixth filly to capture the Preakness Stakes, a stirring effort that allowed the daughter of Daredevil to move up the ranks in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver came into the 1 3/16-miles Preakness off a runner-up effort in the September 4 Kentucky Oaks and had won four other graded races this season, including the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes. The chestnut filly outdueled Kentucky Derby winner Authentic by a neck in the Preakness to assert herself as the leader of the sophomore filly ranks, earning 11 first-place votes and 359 points to move up to third overall in the poll.

Authentic, who was 9 ¾ lengths clear of third-place finisher Jesus' Team, lost the final leg of the 2020 Triple Crown but still holds the top spot in the poll with 18 first-place votes and 378 points. Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law is second with 14 first-place votes and 369 points while Grade 2 winner Art Collector (249 points) dropped one spot to fourth, just behind Swiss Skydiver.

Grade 1 winner Honor A. P., who has been retired to stud, remains fifth with 155 points followed by fellow top-level winner Gamine (128 points) and Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil (112) in seventh. Max Player (110 points) ranks eighth while Thousand Words (52) and Jesus' Team (45) complete the top 10.

Authentic's older stablemate Improbable remains out front in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 34 first-place votes and 401 points. The son of City Zip has won three straight Grade 1 contests with his latest triumph coming in the September 26 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Champion Maximum Security, runner-up in the Awesome Again Stakes, remains second with 2 first-place votes and 303 points. Tom's d'Etat (2 first-place votes, 249 points) is third followed by multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 245 points) and champion Monomoy Girl (1 first-place vote, 213 points).

Multiple graded stakes winner By My Standards remains sixth with 160 points while Authentic (127 points) moves up to seventh – the highest ranking sophomore on the Top Thoroughbred Poll. Tiz the Law (115 points) is eighth followed by Swiss Skydiver (114) and multiple Grade 1 winner Rushing Fall (75).

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

The post Swiss Skydiver Vaults To Third Position In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Drury ‘Didn’t See A Whole Lot For Excuses’ For Art Collector

Trainer Tommy Drury Jr. looked Art Collector over Sunday morning and said the colt was in good shape coming out of Saturday's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes 145 dat Pimlico in Baltimore, Md. Bruce Lunsford's homebred son of Bernardini ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. ended up fourth, a head behind Jesus' Team.

Art Collector, the 2-1 second choice in the wagering, was Drury's first Triple Crown starter and came into the Preakness unbeaten in four starts this year.

“I didn't see a whole lot for excuses. For whatever reason he just didn't quite have that normal turn of foot that we see from him,” Drury said. “Around the first turn it looked like Brian tried to kind of get out and couldn't quite get that done. Down the backside he tried to take the same spot that Swiss Skydiver took and unfortunately didn't have enough horse to get there. No excuses at this point. We're going to take our hat off to the filly. She ran great and I'm thrilled for Kenny. We'll get back home and regroup and figure out where we want to go next.”

Drury said one of the options for the colt is the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“It certainly is a possibility, along with a lot of other races,” Drury said. “I think the big thing is to get him back home and make sure he's OK. He seems to be fine this morning.”

A minor foot injury kept Art Collector out of the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, but he was ready for the Preakness, which Drury called “the biggest day of my life.”

“It was exciting,” Drury said. “I wish we could have ran a little better, but that being said I'm proud of my horse. He took me to a place I never got to go to before. We're going to be fine. We just need to regroup a little bit and figure out what to do next.”

Grupo Seven C Stable LLC's Jesus' Team, who finished third at 40-1, exited the Preakness in good order, said trainer Jose D'Angelo.

“I'm very happy for my horse and my team. My horse ran good. He ran a fast time in the stretch,” D'Angelo said. “Our next plan….maybe the Breeders' Cup.”

The post Drury ‘Didn’t See A Whole Lot For Excuses’ For Art Collector appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Filly Swiss Skydiver Digs Deep To Deny Authentic, Capping One-Of-A-Kind Triple Crown With Preakness Victory

A bold mid-race move by new jockey Robby Albarado saw the filly Swiss Skydiver (11-1) get the jump on Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (3-2) in Saturday's 145th running of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. The Kentucky Oaks runner-up slipped between the Bob Baffert-trained stablemates, Authentic and Thousand Words (7-1), on the backstretch, and grabbed the lead before the Hall of Famer John Velazquez cued the Derby winner to make his move.

The 3-year-old daughter of Daredevil lived up to her sire's name through a thrilling stretch battle, denying Authentic all the way through the wire to earn a hard-fought victory by a head and give trainer Kenny McPeek his first Preakness winner. As the 55th filly to start in the Preakness, Swiss Skydiver is the sixth to wear the winner's garland.

Owned by Peter Callahan, Swiss Skydiver also ran the second-fastest Preakness in history, completing 1 3/16 miles over Pimlico's fast main track in 1:53.28.

It was a fitting end to the 2020 Triple Crown, a series filled with twists and turns as the international coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on racing schedules worldwide. All three legs were held without fans as a result, and all three were won by different horses. The Belmont Stakes, typically the third in the series, was held first this year on June 20 (won by Tiz the Law), and the distance was shortened from 1 1/2 to 1 1/8 miles. The Kentucky Derby was held next on Sept. 5, and was won by Authentic, while the Preakness was rescheduled to Oct. 3.

Also unique to 2020, the Preakness was a Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You're In” contest for the Classic. Thus, Swiss Skydiver earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic by virtue of her victory.

Swiss Skydiver was very sharp at the start of the Preakness, bumping a bit with Art Collector to her inside as Albarado muscled the filly toward the lead. However, the jockeys aboard Thousand Words and Authentic seemed to have similar game plans, as that pair made their way toward the rail just ahead of her.

Albarado did make it to the rail with Swiss Skydiver as Art Collector moved to her outside, and she was able to save ground through the clubhouse turn as Thousand Words led his Derby-winning stablemate through a first quarter in 24.48 seconds. Pneumatic made it a three-wide group across the track in the second flight, with Art Collector between horses.

After Thousand Words led through a half-mile in :47.65, Albarado saw an opening between the two stablemates ahead of him. He angled Swiss Skydiver off the rail and sent her through between horses, perhaps taking Velazquez by surprise aboard Authentic.

Albarado had Swiss Skydiver on the lead through six furlongs in 1:11.24, with Velazquez sending Authentic around her outside to challenge nearing the head of the lane. Thousand Words spit the bit and Art Collector was digging in and trying to rally, but it was all Swiss Skydiver and Authentic for the stretch run.

Swiss Skydiver had a half-length advantage on Authentic and was fiercely game, making the Derby winner work for every inch of ground. Authentic did gain on her nearing the wire, but Swiss Skydiver flattened her ears and got her head down on the wire in from. Authentic had to settle for second.

It was another seven or so lengths back to Jesus' Team to fill out the trifecta, while Art Collector checked in fourth. Max Player, the only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this year, finished fifth. The remaining order of finish was: Excession, Mr. Big News, Thousand Words, Ny Traffic, Pneumatic, and Liveyourbeastlife.

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Swiss Skydiver is out of the winning Johannesburg mare Expo Gold. McPeek picked her out at the Keeneland September sale and purchased the filly with a final bid of $35,000. Since then, she's gone on to win the G2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, G3 Fantasy, G2 Santa Anita Oaks, and the G1 Alabama, while finishing second in both the G2 Blue Grass Stakes (to Preakness fourth-place finisher Art Collector) and in the G1 Kentucky Oaks (to Shedaresthedevil).

Swiss Skydiver has compiled a record of six wins, three seconds and a third from 11 starts, with earnings nearing $1.8 million.

The post Filly Swiss Skydiver Digs Deep To Deny Authentic, Capping One-Of-A-Kind Triple Crown With Preakness Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Twinspires Triple Crown Throwdown: Preakness Stakes

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins.

DeRosa – Bankroll: $5480 – GI Kentucky Derby Result – Max Player rallied for fifth.

GI Preakness S. – I wanted to bet Art Collector in the Kentucky Derby, so why not in the Preakness against arguably a softer group with the defections of Tiz the Law and Honor A. P.? Art Collector would have been half the price as Authentic in the Derby, but now we get twice the price since Authentic won the race Art Collector wasn’t in. I’m not up on all that newfangled math my kids take, but I still know logic, and it’s telling me to bet my lungs on Art Collector. I don’t give a lot of wagering advice in this spot, but mine would be to save whatever it is you plan to bet across all the great racing this weekend and put it all on the nose of Art Collector. Best bet of the Triple Crown Throwdown series right here in the Preakness. Selection: #3 Art Collector (5-2).

Sherack – Bankroll: $4110 – GI Kentucky Derby Result – Honor A. P. was up against it from the moment they sprung the latch and was along for fourth after an impossible trip.

GI Preakness S. – Pneumatic finally posted the breakthrough victory I was waiting for in the TVG.com Pegasus S. at Monmouth, and if his subsequent training at Saratoga is any indication, he may have another leap forward coming here. He’s tactical enough to work out the right trip in a race that appears to have plenty of speed signed on as well. Selection: #10 Pneumatic (20-1).

DiDonato – Bankroll: $5840 – GI Kentucky Derby Result – Tiz the Law (+$340) settled for second best on the day. Not sure that’s his favorite track, and it’s tough to dance every dance even when the order and spacing are different.

GI Preakness S. – This seems like a good spot to take a chance with a longshot. Authentic’s last effort almost certainly wins this too, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he turned out to be a little bit over the top here. His pre-Derby worktab suggests he was 100% cranked for last time, and while his two breezes for this were fast, he’s not going to work out the same trip here. There’s plenty of other pace, which is part of the reason I’ll also oppose Art Collector, who I wasn’t totally sold on before his late Derby defection. He can win, but he’s another who’s probably not going to get the same perfect trip he’s enjoyed in recent outings. Max Player is the one I’ll try. His Derby run was sneaky good–he traveled on the dead rail for a good chunk of the race, and made a legitimate stretch run. One of these days he’s going to get the meltdown he needs. Maybe it’ll be Saturday. Selection: #8 Max Player (15-1).

The post Twinspires Triple Crown Throwdown: Preakness Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post