Tag: Daredevil

Bloodlines Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: A Banner Weekend For Fillies

Around the world this weekend, fillies have made life hard on the colts. Notably, here at home in the States, the Daredevil filly Swiss Skydiver refused to yield to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief) in the Preakness Stakes on Oct. 3.

At Longchamp in France, a pair of mares won Group 1 races against their male competition. In the 2 1/2-mile Prix du Cadran, the 5-year-old Princess Zoe caught the longtime leader Alkuin close to the finish and won the staying laurels in Europe. In the seven-furlong Prix de la Foret, the 6-year-old One Master (Fastnet Rock) won this important race for the third time. She was bred in England by Lael Stable, which also campaigns the talented racer.

The German-bred Princess Zoe is a daughter of the Montjeu stallion Jukebox Jury. The sire won the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot as a 2-year-old, then progressed to win the G2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket, the G2 Prix Kergorlay at Deauville, the G1 Irish St. Leger at the Curragh, and the G1 Preis von Europa at Cologne. The gray went to stud in Germany at Gestut Etzean in 2013, where Princess Zoe came from a mating in the stallion's second season of breeding, foals of 2015. In 2018, Jukebox Jury was transferred to Ireland and stands at Burgage Stud in County Carlow.

Daredevil, the sire of multiple Grade 1 winner Swiss Skydiver, has had a similar pattern at stud. The son of More Than Ready entered stud at WinStar Farm in 2016, then before his stock reached the races, was sold to the Jockey Club of Turkey and transferred to their studs in Eastern Europe, along with Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.

Swiss Skydiver, along with G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil, are members of the first crop of racers by Daredevil, and they have raised his profile among breeders in Turkey and elsewhere. According to press reports out of Turkey, there is considerable interest in Daredevil from breeders around the world, and he may be put to use as a dual-hemisphere stallion.

The dam of Swiss Skydiver, the Johannesburg mare Expo Gold, has been added to the Keeneland November sale. The 12-year-old mare, in foal to first-year sire Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), will sell on the first day of the November sale as part of the Taylor Made consignment. In addition, two half-sisters to Swiss Skydiver have been consigned to the Keeneland November auction: the stakes-placed Miss Hot Legs, who is by Verrazano, a son of More Than Ready, like Daredevil and Catholic Boy, will be consigned by South Point Sales, agent, in foal to Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist; and Is It Gold (Indygo Shiner), will be offered as a broodmare prospect by Hunter Valley Farm, agent.

More Than Ready himself had a massively successful weekend, as the sire of Uni, winner of the G1 First Lady Stakes, and as the broodmare sire of Simply Ravishing (Laoban), the winner of the G1 Alcibiades Stakes.

The final filly who put the boys in their place was the Japanese-bred Gran Alegria, a daughter of the great sire Deep Impact. She shares a sire with the 3-year-old Contrail, who will attempt to win his country's Triple Crown after victories in the Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas) and Tokyo Yushun (Japan Derby).

In contrast to the classic winner Contrail, the 4-year-old Gran Alegria tackled colts in the G1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama over 1,200 meters on turf. Lagging behind all but one of her competitors, Gran Alegria went outside all the racers in front of her as she turned on a stretch finish that would have made Winx blush.

Turning into the stretch with only one competitor behind her, Gran Alegria swept past them all to win by two lengths in 1:08.3. It is an exhibition worth watching and a link to the race video is available on the website of Horse Racing in Japan.

This fast bay filly is out of Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly Turf winner Tapitsfly (Tapit), who sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.85 million at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton November sale. A two-time G1 winner, Tapitsfly produced Gran Alegria as her first named foal, and the Sprinters Stakes winner is her dam's only surviving offspring. Tragically, Tapitsfly died foaling another Deep Impact foal on Mar. 2, 2018.

Some of the bravest and fleetest of our racers, mares put their lives into producing the next generation of racing stock. On the course and in the paddocks, they deserve our salute.

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Oaks Winner Shedaresthedevil Headed For Vacation, Will Return For Oaklawn Meet

Third against older fillies and mares in Sunday's Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil will now be given some time off, reports the Daily Racing Form. Trainer Brad Cox said the 3-year-old daughter of Daredevil will be rested ahead of a planned campaign at Oaklawn Park this winter.

“She went too fast, too early,” Cox said of the Spinster, in which Shedaresthedevil was defeated 3 1/4 lengths by Valiance after setting the pace. “She never got a breather. It was a lot to ask, bringing her back in four weeks.”

Cox confirmed that Shedaresthedevil will skip the Breeders' Cup, scheduled for Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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‘She’s A Throwback Horse’: McPeek Reflects On Swiss Skydiver’s Preakness, Horse Of The Year Discussion

After walking Swiss Skydiver a few turns in the Preakness Stakes Barn at Pimlico in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday morning, trainer Ken McPeek was still trying to wrap his mind around the 3-year-old filly's sensational triumph in Saturday's 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) under a heads-up ride from jockey Robby Albarado.

“I should probably retire today,” McPeek said, “because I don't think it can get higher than this. I really don't. She's beat so many odds. I'm beyond proud of her, proud of Robby and everyone who's handled her. It's been a real team effort. I have some unbelievable people who work for me that help handle the details.”

Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver not only beat the boys in the Preakness, the daughter of Daredevil registered the second-fastest running time in the storied history of Maryland's signature Triple Crown race. The 1:53.28 clocking for her thrilling 1 3/16-mile tour of the Pimlico oval was second only to 1973 Triple Crown champion Secretariat's 1:53 stakes-record time.

“It was surreal,” McPeek said. “It's still surreal.”

Swiss Skydiver defeated Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Authentic by a resolute neck to become the sixth filly to win the Preakness and first since Rachel Alexandra got the better of Derby winner Mine That Bird in 2009. After saving ground on the first turn and into the backstretch aboard the McPeek trainee, Albarado made a decisive move that propelled the filly into the lead heading into the far turn, easing his mount around tiring pacesetter Thousand Words before darting back to the rail inside Authentic. Swiss Skydiver and Authentic dueled around the turn and through the stretch with the 11-1 filly gamely holding off the 3-2 favorite to the wire.

The Grade 1 victory aboard Swiss Skydiver was Albarado's first since 2017, as well as his first graded-stakes win of 2020. The veteran jockey, who has ridden the winners of more than 5,200 races and $220 million in purses, has experienced slowing business the past few years but showed the racing world that he can still win the big ones.

“The thing about it was that we took a negative and made it into a positive. We didn't have a rider until Saturday night (Sept. 26),” said McPeek, who was left without a rider when Tyler Gaffalione opted out. “I called Robby right away and I said, 'Here's what it is going to take for you to ride her. We're going to offer the mount to Mike Smith and wait for his agent to call me back. If his agent says no then I'm going to present to the owner that you're going to ride her. He said, 'OK, let me know, let me know.'

Trainer Kenny McPeek

“We waited for Mike Smith's agent to return our offer, but once I got confirmation he couldn't ride her, I called Robby and said, 'You're on.' I said, 'But here's what we're going to do. We're flying up together; we're going to get on her all week.' I think it was fortuitous because he got on her every day and got to know her. He spent time with her and, every day, he got more confident in her. You need a rider with confidence because if she takes you there, she'll win. We pulled it off.”

Swiss Skydiver is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs Monday morning to prepare for a start on the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup program at Keeneland in either the Distaff (G1) or the Classic (G1).

“I like the mile and a quarter of the Classic, but the Distaff, today, is probably the wiser move. But the farther she goes the better,” McPeek said. “We can sit on it. We won't make a rash decision.”

Swiss Skydiver entered the Preakness with four graded-stakes victories against 3-year-old fillies, including the Alabama (G1) at Saratoga, and second-place finishes in the Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland against the boys and Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill. Her victory in the final leg of the reshuffled 2020 Triple Crown puts her in the discussion for Horse of the Year, McPeek said.

“I think you have to make a case for her. I mean, she's run every month of the year except April, and she ran at the end of March and early May. You have to make a case for her. She's entertained coast to coast, north, south, east, west,” he said. “She's amazing. She's not even tired today. She's a throwback horse.”

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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.

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