Swipe to make 3-year-old debut in Lexington Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Swipe, unraced since finishing second to Nyquist in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last October, is likely to have his 3-year-old debut in the $150,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 16.

The Grade 3 Lexington Stakes is run at 1 1/16 miles, a distance that trainer Keith Desormeaux said holds more appeal than the 1 1/8-mile major stakes for 3-year-olds.

“It’s not as tough as some of the Grade 1 races at a mile and an eighth,” Desormeaux said on Thursday. “This is more sensible.”

Owned by Matt Bryan’s Big Chief Racing, James Justice, and Billy Shelton, Swipe was sidelined after the BC Juvenile to have a bone chip removed from an ankle. Swipe resumed training earlier this year and has been on a tight schedule for an expected return to racing this month.

Desormeaux said how Swipe fares in the Lexington Stakes will determine whether he starts in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.

“If he was ultra-impressive, the Derby is still in consideration,” he said.

Through Thursday, Swipe has 12 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. The winner of the Lexington Stakes receives 10 points, which would greatly help Swipe’s chances of getting into the Kentucky Derby. The top 20 horses on the points list earn berths.

Swipe has one win in seven starts and has earned $608,330. Last year, Swipe won the Summer Juvenile Championship at Los Alamitos in July and was second to Nyquist in four consecutive graded stakes from August through late October in California and Kentucky.