Sister Swank collars 'Jinny,' draws off to win Valley View

Under steady right-handed pressure from Pat Day, Sister Swank collared front-running Jinny's Gold inside the sixteenth pole before edging clear to a 1 1/4-length triumph Saturday in the Grade 3, $116,300 at Keeneland.

Jinny's Gold, ridden by Calvin Borel, had drawn away at the top of the turf stretch and seemed on her way to victory before Sister Swank made a steady outside run to catch her. Jinny's Gold finished another 1 1/2 lengths in front of Shadow Cast in a field of 12 3-year-old fillies. Lenatareese, the 3-1 favorite, failed to menace and finished eighth.

National wins leader Steve Asmussen is the trainer of Sister Swank, who returned $8.60 as second choice after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.75 over a yielding course. The Heiligbrodt Racing Stable bought Sister Swank, a Kentucky-bred by Skip Away, for $41,000 at the 2002 September yearling sales.

Sister Swank raced several lengths off the pace before taking dead aim turning for home.

"She broke nice, then took some rating early because she was a little bit strong," said Day. "But then she settled nice. I felt comfortable the whole time."

The Valley View is the first stakes win for Sister Swank, who now has won four of 10 starts and $241,321.

The Valley View was the penultimate graded stakes of the Keeneland fall meet. The Grade 3 Fayette Stakes on closing day, Oct. 30, is the last one.