Breeders' Cup Classic on the radar for Swiss Skydiver

As trainer Ken McPeek continued to bask in the glow of Swiss Skydiver’s scintillating win in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, the issue of what’s next for the star filly was broached when he joined host Mike Willman on Thoroughbred Los Angeles Sunday morning.

McPeek first reported Swiss Skydiver was doing well at Pimlico the day after her narrow victory over Kentucky Derby winner Authentic in the third leg of the Triple Crown, noting “she cleaned her feed up last night, again this morning. She just doesn’t miss a beat.”

While it is on to next month’s Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland for Swiss Skydiver, still to be determined is what race she will compete. McPeek is considering either a third try against males in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic going 1 1/4 miles, or staying within her division for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at 1 1/8 miles.

“I really like the mile-and-a-quarter, I think that’s a great distance for her,” McPeek told Thoroughbred Los Angeles. “But we’ll look at the competition and try and see where she fits best.”

According to Oddschecker, Swiss Skydiver is trading at 8-1 in overseas markets for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. She is the co third-choice with Authentic behind Improbable (4-1) and Tiz the Law (9-2).

Swiss Skydiver is scheduled to fly back Monday to her home base in Kentucky, where she will enjoy a few light days before starting to gear up for the Breeders’ Cup.

“We’ll probably give her three or four days, just light walk days and then we’ll put her on the track and make sure she’s in good order,” McPeek said. “She probably won’t have even another maintenance breeze for a couple of weeks.”

The Preakness win upped Swiss Skydiver’s record for the season to five wins from nine starts with two seconds and a third with all nine starts coming at different racetracks. By Daredevil, Swiss Skydiver has earned $1,792,980 for owner Peter Callahan.