The hickory filly Swiss Skydiver rose to the top of her division the old-fashioned way. The daughter of Daredevil’s 10 starts at nine different tracks around the country, from New York to California and in between, encompassed some of the nation’s top races for 3-year-old fillies, and also included a stop at Pimlico. An historic victory there in the Preakness Stakes over Authentic, winner of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, solidly cemented her place among this year’s Eclipse Awards 3-year-old filly finalists. “She’s entertained coast to coast, north, south, east, west,” trainer Ken McPeek said. “She’s amazing. She’s a throwback horse.” Swiss Skydiver, who is out of the Johannesburg mare Expo Gold, was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and was a $35,000 purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale by Peter Callahan. She made two starts in the fall of her juvenile year, a maiden win and a second in allowance company. She finished fifth in the Gasparilla Stakes around one turn at Tampa Bay to start 2020 and was third in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes to Finite and champion British Idiom. Then, Swiss Skydiver hit her stride. The filly won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks by 3 1/4 lengths, the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, besting Shedaresthedevil, by 2 1/2 lengths, and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks by four lengths. :: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories With her spot in the postponed Longines Kentucky Oaks secure, Swiss Skydiver’s connections opted to face males in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland’s one-off July meeting. She made some of the pace before finishing a fine second to Art Collector, at that time one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby. She bounced back with a victory in one of the nation’s most prestigious races for her division, the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, winning by 3 1/2 lengths over graded stakes winners Bonny South and Harvey’s Lil Goil. In the Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4, Swiss Skydiver finished second to Shedaresthedevil, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. The search for a final prep for the Breeders’ Cup led her connections to the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes, and a match against Authentic in what was the final leg of the reconstituted 2020 Triple Crown. In a hard-fought battle around the turn and through the lane, Swiss Skydiver refused to give in to Authentic, prevailing by a neck. She joined the elite club of Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915), Nellie Morse (1924), and Rachel Alexandra (2009) as fillies to win the Preakness. Her final running time of 1:53.28 was second fastest in the race’s history, behind only 1973 Triple Crown champion Secretariat’s 1:53 clocking. “She is just a real bull,” McPeek said. “She loves what she does every day. She likes to go to work. She wants to go out early because she doesn’t want to wait to go out.” Swiss Skydiver finished seventh in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland after stumbling at the start. She is currently wintering in Florida, getting time off from training before preparing for an anticipated 2021 campaign.