Tag: Swiss Skydiver

Drury: Art Collector’s Versatile Style Will Be A Major Advantage In Preakness Stakes

Tommy Drury didn't get much sleep on Monday night of Kentucky Derby week. The trainer of one of the top Derby contenders, Art Collector, had found a decent-sized cut on the back of the colt's right front hoof, apparently suffered during his Monday morning gallop.

Drury and owner/breeder Bruce Lunsford faced a difficult decision. The colt's hoof was sensitive to the touch, and neither man wanted to subject the horse to the stress of the Run for the Roses unless he was 100 percent. Still, it would have been the first starter in the Kentucky Derby for both Drury and Lunsford, and making the decision to walk away from what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was challenging.

“It was certainly difficult,” Drury said on an NTRA teleconference this Monday. “The Derby is a race of a lifetime for a horse trainer. At end of day, the responsibility we have is to put the horse first. It would not have been fair to lead him over there knowing there was an issue going on. It was a no-brainer. We want our horse to be good for the long haul, not just one race.”

Instead, Art Collector will be the 5-2 second choice in this Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. He'll face a field of 11, including Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (9-5 favorite) and Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver (6-1).

Art Collector, a 3-year-old son of Bernardini, won the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in July. He stalked the pace in that race, then won the Ellis Park Derby with a solid frontrunning display. That versatility in tactics gives Drury a bit of confidence heading into the Preakness Stakes.

“He has a little stop and go to him,” Drury explained, adding that jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. is very familiar with Art Collector's style. “You can use him and get him going again if you need to. In a race like this, that can be beneficial.”

The post position, three, won't be an issue for Art Collector either, Drury said. The colt is quick enough to get out of the gate and near the lead, and tactical enough for Hernandez to be able to take back off the pace if others decide to go.

No matter what happens this Saturday, Drury is looking forward to the future with Art Collector. This year, the Breeders' Cup Classic is the likely next stop on the colt's schedule, and Drury will also look for Art Collector to return as a 4-year-old.

“Art Collector is a very special horse to us,” summarized Drury. “He has taken my career to places I've never dreamed it would go. I've not had anything like him ever before.”

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Bloodlines Presented By BloodstockAuction.Com: Swiss Skydiver Set To Join Sorority Of Top Fillies To Test Preakness Stakes

With trainer Kenny McPeek declaring to send multiple Grade 1 winner Swiss Skydiver (by Daredevil) to the Preakness Stakes on Oct. 3, our memory turned to the last filly to win the classic against the colts: Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) in 2009.

The striking dark bay wasn't the only filly to win that classic, however. Although Rachel Alexandra is the only filly to win a classic in the 21st century, four other fillies had won the Preakness in the preceding century. Flocarline had been the first filly to win a Preakness in 1903, then Whimsical won the race in 1906, Rhine Maiden won in 1915 (the same year that Regret won the Kentucky Derby), and Nellie Morse won in 1924.

Although it was 85 years after Nellie Morse until another filly won the Preakness, 10 more had tried the classic during the interim. The most famous of these had been the champions and Kentucky Derby winners Genuine Risk (Exclusive Native) in 1980 and Winning Colors (Caro) in 1988.

In 1980, the fetching chestnut Genuine Risk had become the second Kentucky Derby winner in three years for the Raise a Native stallion Exclusive Native. Neither Exclusive Native nor his sire had made any waves in the classics during their racing careers, but both had proven notably more capable of getting classic stock as sires.

Raise a Native sired 1969 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Majestic Prince, as well as Alydar, who finished second in each of the Triple Crown races behind Affirmed, the first classic winner by Exclusive Native.

Both Affirmed and Genuine Risk were scopy chestnuts with quality; their good looks made them noticeable on the racetrack and helped win thousands of fans for racing. Following her historic Derby success 65 years after Regret, Genuine Risk then finished second in a controversial Preakness when she was carried wide coming into the stretch by subsequent winner Codex (Arts and Letters). An objection lodged against the winner was not allowed.

Genuine Risk went to the Belmont Stakes, even without the Triple Crown as the historic attraction, but this time the beloved filly finished second to the mud-loving Temperence Hill (Stop the Music), who later was voted the champion 3-year-old colt.

No other filly previously had raced in each of the races of the Triple Crown, and Genuine Risk showed her high class and athletic ability as she finished in the money in each race. As a result, Genuine Risk ranks as one of the great race fillies of the past 50 years.

But just eight years later, another filly ran in each of the Triple Crown races.

A thrashing big filly, Winning Colors had brought $575,000 as a Keeneland July yearling, and the leggy daughter of the gray stallion Caro took some time to strengthen and fill out her big frame. After winning a pair of races at two, she advanced rapidly to top-class form in winning the Santa Anita Derby and then the Kentucky Derby. In the latter race, Winning Colors defeated the previous season's top juvenile colt, Forty Niner (Mr. Prospector) by a neck, with Risen Star (Secretariat) in third.

Brought back by trainer D. Wayne Lukas for the Preakness and a possible tilt for the Triple Crown, Winning Colors was challenged early and aggressively by Forty Niner, and at the finish, Risen Star was the fast-closing winner, with Winning Colors in third.

Both classic winners came back for the Belmont Stakes, and Risen Star prevailed by 15 lengths in the fast time of 2:26 2/5, which at the time was the second-fastest Belmont ever run behind only his great sire's 2:24. Since 1988, Easy Goer and A.P. Indy each have won the Belmont in 2:26.

Winning Colors had made the early pace, tried to stay with Risen Star when he was winding up his convincing impression of Secretariat, and finished unplaced in sixth. Winning Colors never won another top-level race, but the lovely gray did finish second in both the G1 Maskette and Breeders' Cup Distaff to the unbeaten Personal Ensign (Private Account).

In the latter race, run under cold and wet conditions at Churchill Downs later in 1989, Winning Colors had taken the lead and controlled the race to such an extent that Personal Ensign appeared to have little chance of even hitting the board as the field came into the stretch. The imperturbable bay filly refused to give up, gained with every stride through the stretch, and won her 13th and final start in one of the most exciting and heroic efforts imaginable.

These fillies secured the status of supreme champions by overcoming adversity and capturing victory when the probability or circumstances didn't favor them. If Swiss Skydiver can live up to these supreme examples of the race filly, she will make the Preakness one more great race to remember.

The post Bloodlines Presented By BloodstockAuction.Com: Swiss Skydiver Set To Join Sorority Of Top Fillies To Test Preakness Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Authentic Draws Nine for Preakness

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) was assigned gate nine in a field of 11 and was installed the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’ GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

John Velazquez has the return call on Authentic, who goes for a third consecutive victory at the Grade I level, having beaten Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. before defying those who concluded he would not stay the 10 furlongs of the Derby by outfighting heavily favored Tiz the Law (Constitution) beneath the Twin Spires Sept. 5. The Sackatoga runner was removed from Preakness consideration last week and will instead train up to the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7.

Authentic is one of two Preakness starters for Bob Baffert, who can become the winningest trainer in Preakness history (currently tied with R. Wyndham Walden on seven winners) with a victory from Authentic or Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile). The $1-million Keeneland September was to represent Spendthrift and Albaugh Family Stable in the Run for the Roses, but was scratched after flipping in the paddock while being saddled. Thousand Words carries Florent Geroux and breaks from gate five as a 6-1 chance.

Art Collector (Bernardini) was no worse than the second betting selection for the Derby, but he, too, was withdrawn from the second leg of this year’s Triple Crown with a minor foot ailment. He has trained well since for trainer Tommy Drury, Jr., and was made the 5-2 second favorite for Saturday’s race. Brian Hernandez, Jr. should have the Bruce Lunsford runner close from the three hole.

After some deliberation, trainer Ken McPeek has opted for a Preakness run for his crack filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who exits a game runner-up effort in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4. The Preakness marks her second start against the boys, as she led into the final furlong of the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 12 before being run down by Art Collector. Robby Albarado takes the reins on the 6-1 gamble from gate four.

Saturday, Pimlico Race Course

PREAKNESS S.-GI, $1,000,000, 3yo, 1 3/16m

1 Excession (Union Rags), Russell, Asmussen, 30-1

2 Mr. Big News (Giant’s Causeway), Saez, Calhoun, 12-1

3 Art Collector (Bernardini), Hernandez Jr., Drury, Jr, 5-2

4 Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), Albarado, McPeek, 6-1

5 Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile), Geroux, Baffert, 6-1

6 Jesus’ Team (Tapiture), Toledo, D’Angelo, 30-1

7 Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic), Joseph Jr., Karamanos, 15-1

8 Max Player (Honor Code), Lopez, Asmussen, 15-1

9 Authentic (Into Mischief), Velazquez, Baffert, 9-5

10 Pneumatic (Uncle Mo), Bravo, Asmussen, 20-1

11 Liveyourbeastlife (Ghostzapper), McCarthy, Abreu, 30-1

The post Authentic Draws Nine for Preakness appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Authentic Draws Post Nine; 11 Entered In 2020 Preakness Stakes

Kentucky Derby winner Authentic will be the 9-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, and drew post nine of 11 in the 1 3/16-mile contest. Hall of Famers John Velazquez and Bob Baffert will team up again to try to win two of three legs of this unique 2020 edition of the Triple Crown.

Second choice on the morning line at 5-2 will be Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector, who missed the Kentucky Derby with a minor cut to his hoof suffered on Monday of Derby week. The talented colt is fully healed, according to trainer Tommy Drury, and will break from post position three under regular jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr.

Trainer Ken McPeek will send out the Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver from post position four in the Preakness Stakes, and the filly will get a new pilot in jockey Robby Albarado. She was tabbed at 6-1 on the morning line.

Baffert will also enter Kentucky Derby late scratch Thousand Words, who flipped over in the paddock and broke the wrist of assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes. The difficult colt will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post position five, and is 6-1 on the morning line.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law decided to skip the Preakness, but third-place finisher Mr. Big News will enter the classic for trainer Bret Calhoun. The late-running colt will break from post two and is 12-1 on the morning line.

Additionally, trainer Steve Asmussen will send out three entrants in the 2020 Preakness Stakes: Excession (Post 1, 30-1), Max Player (Post 8, 15-1), and Pnuematic (Post 10, 20-1).

The full field, with jockey, trainer, and morning-line odds, is as follows:

  1. Excession – Sheldon Russell – Steve Asmussen (30-1)
  2. Mr. Big News – Gabriel Saez – Bret Calhoun (12-1)
  3. Art Collector – Brian Hernandez, Jr. – Tommy Drury (5-2)
  4. Swiss Skydiver – Robby Albarado – Ken McPeek (6-1)
  5. Thousand Words – Florent Geroux – Bob Baffert (6-1)
  6. Jesus' Team – Jevian Toldeo – Jose D'Angelo (30-1)
  7. Ny Traffic – Horacio Karamanos – Saffie Joseph, Jr. (15-1)
  8. Max Player – Paco Lopez – Steve Asmussen (15-1)
  9. Authentic – John Velazquez – Bob Baffert (9-5)
  10. Pneumatic – Joe Bravo – Steve Asmussen (20-1)
  11. Liveyourbeastlife – Trevor McCarthy – Jorge Abreu (30-1)

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