Daredevil already looking like smart investment for Turkish Jockey Club

The Turkish Jockey Club was bullish in the market last year, purchasing several established or promising stallions from various jurisdictions to move to its country. One of its investments is already skyrocketing in value, as Daredevil now has two daughters from his first crop established on the Kentucky Oaks trail, with Swiss Skydiver's victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks.

Swiss Skydiver had previously finished third in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds to Finite and Eclipse Award champion British Idiom. The filly set the pace in the Gulfstream Oaks and stayed sharp in the lane to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

"We’ve had a really hard time getting this filly to two turns," trainer Ken McPeek said. "It always seemed like the timing was off on everything. We finally got her in the Rachel Alexandra in New Orleans, where she hooked a couple of really tough ones, and she needed the experience. We were almost five weeks in between races and this was real good timing."

Swiss Skydiver joins Shedaresthedevil as graded stakes-winning 3-year-old fillies from Daredevil's first crop. Shedaresthedevil finished second in an Oaklawn Park allowance to Bonny South – who subsequently won the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks – before coming between horses for a professional score in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes.

"Proud of Daredevil," Turkish-born trainer and breeder Murat Sancal posted on Twitter following Saturday's races. "We are very excited about having him standing at the Turkish Jockey Club."

Daredevil, by More Than Ready, won the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes in his second career start as a juvenile, and was a Grade 2-placed sprinter the following season. He stood his first four seasons at WinStar Farm in Kentucky before being acquired by the Turkish Jockey Club to stand overseas beginning with the 2020 season. Two other former WinStar stallions join him in that country – dual classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in his first crop; and Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, the sire of champion sprinter Runhappy and Grade 1 winners Competitive Edge and Embellish the Lace.

“The Turkish Jockey Club has done extremely well with [former WinStar stallion] Victory Gallop, who is the leading sire in Turkey, and has made a concerted effort to improve their stallion roster this year,” WinStar executive Elliott Walden said in a press release. “We look forward to following their careers in Turkey.”

Other stallions relocating to Turkey from various jurisdictions in 2020, or launching their stud careers there, include Group 2-placed Air Vice Marshal; Epsom Derby winner Authorized, sire of dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll; successful regional sire Bluegrass Cat; Grade 2-winning millionaire Catapult; multiple Grade 1 winner Tizway; and multiple graded stakes winner Trappe Shot.

New Turkish stallion Bodemeister also enjoyed a solid Saturday program at Gulfstream Park with a pair of stakes-placed runners on the loaded program. Cheermeister, a multiple graded stakes winner at the meet, was second by a neck in the Sanibel Island Stakes, and Bodexpress was third in the Grade 3 Hal's Hope Stakes.