Swiss Skydiver joins cast for Alabama Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Swiss Skydiver, arguably the leader of the 3-year-old filly division, is expected to arrive in Saratoga on Tuesday and will make her next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama on Aug. 15, trainer Ken McPeek said Saturday.
On Saturday at Churchill Downs, Swiss Skydiver worked five furlongs in 1:01 over a muddy main track. With jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, Swiss Skydiver went in splits of 13.40, 26.40 and 38.20, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.
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Swiss Skydiver, a daughter of Daredevil, reeled off three consecutive victories this spring, taking the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks in March, the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn in May and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks in June.
She took on males in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes on July 11 and finished a respectable second to Art Collector, while finishing nearly five lengths clear of the third-place finisher Rushie in the 13-horse field.
McPeek, who is in Saratoga, was initially planning to train Swiss Skydiver to the Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 5. But the combination of how well the filly is doing and some uncertainty he has about the COVID-19 situation in Kentucky and its potential impact on Churchill’s ability to conduct the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the first week of September led him to point to the Alabama.
“It’s just such a great race,” said McPeek, who won the 2018 Alabama with Eskimo Kisses. “You got a horse doing good, so you hate to pass it. With all the uncertainty about crowds [at Churchill] and everything like that for the Oaks and the Derby, this looks like a good spot for her.”
Though McPeek said he would have preferred the Alabama be run next Saturday, he doesn’t think it will be a problem for Swiss Skydiver to run back in 20 days in the Kentucky Oaks.
“She’s a real sturdy filly and she likes running, she likes doing her thing,” McPeek said. “Why not?”
Tyler Gaffalione, who rode Swiss Skydiver in both of her starts as a 2-year-old, will have the mount in the Alabama, McPeek said.
Nominations for the Alabama are due to close this weekend.