Champion Swiss Skydiver to be Sold at Fasig-Tipton

Peter J. Callahan's reigning Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil–Expo Gold, by Johannesburg) will be offered at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale, also known as the Night of the Stars, according to a press release from trainer Kenny McPeek. Runnymede Farm will serve as agent. Swiss Skydiver is currently out of training after finishing off the board in the Aug. 28 GI Personal Ensign S.

“It's been an honor to train her over the last three years,” said McPeek. “She's sound and healthy. Her owner, Peter Callahan, and I thought she deserved a little rest from racing. She's a classy filly, a sincere pleasure. She has the heart of a true champion and gave her all. She's an exceptional horse–one of those rare horses you don't see very often.”

During her championship season, Swiss Skydiver won the GI Preakness S. in a battle over eventual Horse of the Year and GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief). The chestnut is one of only six fillies to win that jewel of the Triple Crown. At three, she also captured the GI Alabama S., GII Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks, the GII Santa Anita Oaks, and the GIII Fantasy S. in addition to finishing second in both the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks and the GII Toyota Blue Grass S., the latter against the boys.

Swiss Skydiver began this year with a win in the GI Beholder Mile S., but finished third in the GI Apple Blossom H. behind Letruska (Super Saver) and Monomoy Girl (Taptizar). A barn quarantine changed her summer schedule, but she reemerged against males again in the GI Whitney S. and came away fourth behind Knicks Go (Paynter). She was last seen again behind Letruska in the aforementioned Personal Ensign. Overall, Swiss Skydiver has a record of 16-7-3-2 and earnings of $2,216,480.

“It's the right time to let her move into her next chapter,” said Callahan. “A once-in-a-lifetime horse, she gave me and my family everything we could have possibly dreamed of and more, the biggest thrills we've had in this business so far. I just can't say enough good things about her. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Swiss Skydiver in her next chapter.”

Also from the McPeek barn, both Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map–Indian Burn, by Indian Charlie) and Simply Ravishing (Laoban–Four Wishes, by More Than Ready) will also be offered at The November Sale Night of the Stars. Crazy Beautiful, owned by Phoenix Thoroughbreds, is a triple graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed. Her year has included wins in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, GII Summertime Oaks, and GIII Delaware Oaks. She was also last seen at Saratoga, finishing off the board behind Malathaat (Curlin) in the GI Alabama S.

Simply Ravishing, who campaigned in partnership for Harold Lerner LLC, Magdalena Racing, and Nehoc Stables, won the GI Darley Alcibiades S. as well as Saratoga's P. G. Johnson S. last year. Her 2021 campaign has been limited with only two starts, neither of which yielded the type of fruit seen in her 2-year-old campaign.

Crazy Beautiful will be offered at Fasig-Tipton by Denali Stud, agent, and Simply Ravishing will be offered by Gainesway, agent.

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Preakness Winner Swiss Skydiver Getting Time Off, Will Be Offered At Fasig-Tipton November Sale

Swiss Skydiver, 2020 Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly, is getting time off and will be offered for sale at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale by Runnymede Farm, agent.

“It's been an honor to train her over the last three years,” said Kenny McPeek. “She's sound and healthy. Her owner Peter Callahan and I thought she deserved a little rest from racing. She's a classy filly, a sincere pleasure. She has the heart of a true champion and gave her all. She's an exceptional horse – one of those rare horses you don't see very often.”

Swiss Skydiver's win over Authentic in the 2020 Preakness was the pinnacle of her racing career, cementing her award for the 2020 Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly. She won a battle in the stretch over Kentucky Derby winner Authentic to beat the colts. It was the second-fastest Preakness Stakes, finishing in 1:53.10 – only .10 seconds off Secretariat's 1973 record. Her Preakness victory will be remembered as one of the most memorable in Thoroughbred racing. Not only does she join the exclusive list of six fillies to ever win the Preakness, she tops this remarkable list of fillies as the fastest.

Other career highlights include victories in The 2020 Grade 1 Alabama Stakes and The 2021 G1 Beholder Mile winning both impressively by easily running away in the stretch.

“It's the right time to let her move into her next chapter” said owner Peter Callahan. “A once-in-a-lifetime horse, she gave me and my family everything we could have possibly dreamed of and more, the biggest thrills we've had in this business so far.  I just can't say enough good things about her. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Swiss Skydiver in her next chapter.”

Two other McPeek-trained fillies – Crazy Beautiful and Simply Ravishing – will also be offered for sale at The November Sale's Night of Stars. Crazy Beautiful, a multiple graded stakes-winning filly with earnings of $709,863, will be sold by Denali Stud, agent. The winner of the 2020 G1 Alcibiades Stakes, Simply Ravishing, will be offered by Gainesway, agent.

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McPeek Looks To Next Starts For Swiss Skydiver, King Fury

Peter J. Callahan's Swiss Skydiver chased gate-to-wire winner Knicks Go throughout Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., ranging up three-wide with a threatening move late in the final turn before fading to fourth in her first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in April.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, last year's Grade 1 Preakness-winner was initially targeting the Grade 3 Shuvee on July 25 before having to change course when their barn was placed under a precautionary quarantine, related to a positive case of Equine Herpesvirus-1 in their barn, which is shared with trainer Jorge Abreu. The quarantine was lifted on August 1 and all horses cleared without symptoms.

Assistant trainer Francis Chiumiento said he was proud of the performance by the filly, who was being piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr. for the first time.

“I thought she proved how good she is and Irad was really happy with how she ran,” Chiumiento said. “He felt she had a shot to win at some point. These are all good indicators. She came back well and she's happy and content.

“I brought her in here around June 18 and she was doing everything just great,” he added. “We were going to run in the Shuvee and the Personal Ensign and then the outbreak happened. Thank God we contained it and none of our horses were affected. We did everything right.”

The $600,000 Grade 1 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Distaff, is slated for Travers Day August 28.

Three Chimneys Farm and Fern Circles Stables' King Fury, who had initially targeted the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31, finished 10th in Saturday's Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational after a wide trip exiting the outside post in the 11-horse field.

Chiumiento said King Fury should benefit from the experience as he points to the $1.25 million Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

“He was hung out wide the whole time,” Chiumiento said. “He needed a race, too. Unfortunately, we were using a $1 million race as a prep. He handled the turf well but he was wide the whole time. He needed that race to tighten him up and I think he'll be very strong for the Travers. He came back happy and walked great this morning.”

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Chiumiento said he appreciated the presence of NYRA Safety Steward Juan Dominguez for his assistance in negotiating the quarantine protocols.

“It was a pressure cooker but we did everything right. We made sure all the staff followed the protocols, from wearing gloves to disinfecting every stall. We took it serious and we know Jorge Abreu did as well.” Chiumiento said. “I really want to commend Juan Dominguez. He and I worked together and he did a tremendous job to make sure this didn't spread. He and Martin Panza [Senior Vice President of Racing Operations] were here, as well as Keith [Doleshel, Racing Secretary], almost every day and I have to commend them for that. They didn't have to do that. We made sure it was controlled and that there wasn't a chance for it to spread.

“We were prepared to do really well and it's frustrating because we don't know now how we'd have done,” Chiumiento added regarding their initial targets. “Kenny handled it with tremendous class. He's just a very down-to-earth and classy man. He was cool, calm, and collected.”

On Thursday, Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing, and Nehoc Stables' Grade 1-winner Simply Ravishing returns in the nine-furlong $120,000 Saratoga Dew for New York-bred fillies 3-years-old and up.

A $50,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, the 4-year-old Laoban bay won 3-of-5 starts in her sophomore season, including a maiden win on the turf last August on debut and a 6 1/2-length score in the off-the-turf P.G. Johnson in September.

Simply Ravishing made the grade with a 6 1/4-length score in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades in October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., before finishing fourth in both the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in November.

She launched her current campaign in April with an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland.

Simply Ravishing has breezed extensively on the Oklahoma training track dating back to June 26 when she fired a bullet three-eighths in :35.86 and followed a week later with a bullet half-mile in :48.08.

“She's doing good. She's a cool filly and does everything right,” Chiumiento said. “She trains like a gorilla. She puts up bullets. I think she'll be right there.”

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Ryder Finney Continues Family’s Racing Tradition

While Memorial Day weekend is thought of as the kick off to the beginning of summer, for Ryder Finney, it also serves as the unofficial start of sales prep season.

Early mornings of bringing in the yearlings, lengthy handwalking sessions under the hot summer sun and tedious hours monitoring the walker. All while analyzing every minute change in each yearling at Bluewater.

It's his favorite time of year.

“This time of year you see an unbelievable transformation in a lot of them,” Finney said. “Their winter hair falls off and they really start to mature and come into themselves. Watching them do that and helping bring them along is my favorite part of the process. It's constant vigilance and observation and if any little thing comes up you've got to be on top of it fast, but it's one of my favorite parts of the business.”

With rich family ties to racing, Finney has been invested in the sport for as long as he can remember.

“My mom [Meg Levy] runs Bluewater Sales, my dad was a bloodstock agent when I was younger and his dad, [longtime Fasig-Tipton President] John Finney, kind of built Fasig-Tipton Kentucky as we know it today,” Finney explained. “On the other side of my family with my stepdad Mike Levy, his family has been involved in the racing business through racetrack ownership, breeding, the whole thing. So I've been very spoiled and got to grow up around it every day.”

Finney didn't fully grasp his unique situation until his teenage and college years, when he left Lexington to attend Lawrenceville Prep School in New Jersey and the University of Pennsylvania.

“I would talk to my friends there whose families were not in the business and it would sort of blow their minds, just the whole concept of the horse industry,” he recalled. “They helped me realize just how cool it was, so I came home and I'm in it every day now.”

The 30-year-old now serves as the Bloodstock Specialist at Bluewater, playing a role in the day-to-day management on the farm while also advising clients with mating plans and at the sales.

One of his closest relationships is with Kirk and Debra Wycoff's Three Diamonds Farm. A longtime client of Bluewater, Kirk Wycoff sent his son Jordan down to Lexington for several summers years ago to work on the farm and learn the ropes of horsemanship. Similar in age, Finney and the younger Wycoff hit it off as they spent summers enjoying their two shared interests: horses and golf.

Finney's relationship with the Wycoff family continued to grow over the years and today, he helps Three Diamonds in a bit of each aspect of their business, from matings to pinhooks to layups.

“Kirk is really involved in the business at every level, which I think is tremendous,” Finney said. “He loves the game from top to bottom.”

Last spring, Wycoff owned a piece of a 2-year-old filly in the catalogue for the OBS Spring Sale. She was by Declaration of War, a stallion Three Diamonds was just starting to enjoying success with through their stakes winner Empire of War. They also had a juvenile colt by the same sire who would be named Fire at Will and later win that year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Wycoff wasn't sure if he was ready to part with this daughter of Tread (Arch), so he had Finney visit the Grassroots Training and Sales consignment at OBS and take a look at her.

“She checked every box physically and she worked outstanding,” Finney recalled. “We're always confident buying from Grassroots. Kirk has had horses with Dave and Jody for many years and we know how great a job they do, so he decided to buy her out and the rest is history from there.”

Army Wife strides out of the sales ring after fetching $190,000 at OBS. | Photos by Z

After Finney signed the $190,000 ticket, the bay filly was sent to Mike Maker and named Army Wife.

After three unsuccessful tries on the turf last year, she switched over to the main track and broke her maiden in October. When she came back in an allowance at Gulfstream in March, dueling to get the win by a nose, she had her connections' attention.

“Mike prefers to kind of race them into shape, so with the first race off the bench like that you don't always expect them to fire their 'A plus' shot,” Finney said. “Mike actually admitted before the race that he thought she was going to be a little bit short, conditioning-wise, so the fact that she gutted it out and won like she did really impressed me and kind of made me go, 'Huh, she might have some real talent.'”

Army Wife next finished third in the GIII Gazelle S. after getting into some trouble in the stretch, but Maker was undeterred and pointed her towards the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico.

With Joel Rosario aboard, the 9-2 choice came from off the pace to win by 2 3/4 lengths and earn her first graded victory on Preakness weekend.

After a quick vacation at Bluewater over the last few weeks, Army Wife is now heading back to Maker's barn to start her sophomore summer campaign.

“Kirk likes to let them be a horse for a second and kind of come back to themselves before they go back to the track, which I think is a very underrated concept,” Finney said. “Getting to eat grass and be a horse for a little while is totally rejuvenating for a lot of them. I think Mike is thinking the GI Alabama S. up at Saratoga. He loves the way she's responded to the increase in distance and thinks she'll get even better. Where she runs between now and then is up for debate, but I'm sure Kirk will have a plan. He always does.”

Army Wife has several traits that make Finney believe she has all the components to produce even more success.

“She's a very masculine filly, which I think carries over to her attitude at the racetrack,” he said. “As a 2-year-old she was a big, raw, forward filly. She's a good mover and has a very good mind, always very focused.”

Finney hesitates in saying that Army Wife is the most accomplished horse he's had a hand in, pointing out Grade II winner Instagrand (Into Mischief), a $190,000-turned-$1.2 million pinhook that he was a partner on. But there is one thing he will acknowledge.

Army Wife gets her first graded win in the GII Black Eyed Susan at Pimlico. | MJC

“As far as a horse that has Ryder Finney written on the ticket, yes, this is the best one.”

When asked of his most favorite purchase he's ever made, Finney mentions the first horse he ever signed for- a filly named Turf War (War Front) that he purchased for Martin S. Schwartz for $425,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Select Sale.

“At the time she was kind of a small, round, plain bay,” he recalled. “But she was a very, very good mover, which is sort of what drew me to her. She had a ton of presence for a smaller filly and a really sharp eye. She was the first ticket I ever signed. With my family's history at Saratoga and my great grandad's [Humphrey S. Finney] name on the sales pavilion, I've been going there every summer since I was born, so it's a special place to me and it was special to get her bought there. It was sort of surreal.”

Turf War went on to win the Christiecat S. at Belmont in 2019.

Another favorite for Finney and his family is last year's GI Darley Alcibiades S. winner Simply Ravishing (Laoban), a New York-bred filly Meg Levy bred from a $500 mare.

“When she came to Kentucky, I was one of the first people to see her and she was just a special physical from day one,” Finney recalled of the future Grade I winner. “She handled everything with so much class and intelligence. I was in tears when she hit the wire in the Alcibiades. It was as emotional as I've ever been for a horse race. Because there were no fans at the time, you can hear me on the feed screaming as she was coming down to the wire. It was one of the best days of my life for sure. I was so proud of her.”

Finney is sure to have many more “best days” in racing if he continues picking out winners.

“The Easter egg hunt of a horse sale fascinates me,” he said. “You show up a sale, especially a place like Keeneland September where there are thousands of horses, and you know that only a few of them can really run. The challenge of combing through that massive quantity of horses and coming up with the right one is a really tough game, but it's so rewarding.”

While Finney aims to continue sharpening his eye as a buyer, he's equally passionate about his role as a seller and  continuing to build the Bluewater brand.

“It can be very nerve racking,” Finney said of the sales. “I, like my mom, sometimes get nervous and have to leave the barn and stop watching the horses get shown because if one maybe takes a little bad step I go, 'Oh my gosh, they're not going to like my horse because it took one bad step.' It can be a lot because there's so much time and effort, day in and day out, that goes into each animal and you want to see them do their best. You want to see them live up to their full potential.”

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