Inexpensive horses set to make impact on Derby weekend

Whenever trainer and bloodstock expert Ken McPeek wonders if he can scrutinize one more racing prospect at sales so extensive they can be exhausting, he is pushed by the knowledge that he may miss something special if he does not persevere.

His willingness to look beyond obvious big-ticket horses that boast regal pedigrees has given him a reputation as a bargain hunter few can match. Swiss Skydiver, who will vie with Gamine for favoritism in the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs, is the latest example of the shrewdness with which he operates.

While Michael Lund Peterson lavished $1.8 million on Gamine at Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic Sale for Two-Year-Olds in training, McPeek discovered Swiss Skydiver in the next-to-last book at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The price Peter Callahan paid as her new owner? A relatively meager $35,000.

“It happens year after year. There are always horses that are good bargains,” McPeek said. “You’ve just got to find them.”

McPeek boasts a long history of doing that. He landed Curlin, eventual two-time Horse of the Year, as a $57,000 yearling. He acquired 1995 Kentucky Derby runner-up Tejano Run as a $20,000 yearling. And the list goes on and on.

McPeek is hardly alone in his ability to spend a little for a lot. Tiz the Law, the clear favorite in the $3 million Kentucky Derby, and fellow Derby starters Ny Traffic and Finnick the Fierce underscore the point.

Sackatoga Stable, which made a private purchase of New York-bred gelding Funny Cide for $75,000 when he was a 2-year-old to win the 2003 Derby, paid a relatively modest $110,000 to bring home New York-bred Tiz the Law.

Managing partner Jack Knowlton never pitches Derby dreams when potential investors inquire about joining Sackatoga. “It’s a social thing, a sporting thing, and people understand it is unlikely they are going to make money,” Knowlton said.

Tiz the Law investors have, of course, already secured a financial windfall. Knowlton describes them as “35 happy people.”

John Fanelli made a private purchase of legitimate contender Ny Traffic for $22,000 after the New York-bred failed to attain a reserve of $27,000 at the same sale that produced Gamine. Arnaldo Monge, a veterinarian at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, wound up buying Derby longshot Finnick the Fierce for $3,000 from his breeder after he was born with a congenital cataract in his right eye that ultimately led to the eye being surgically removed.

However Swiss Skydiver fares in the Oaks, the daughter of Daredevil has already banked $952,980 while showing she can run effectively against everyone in her class, male or female. She placed second to prime Derby contender Art Collector in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and cruised to her first Grade 1 score in the $500,000 Alabama, her most recent start ahead of the Oaks.

“We’ve got a real systematic approach to buying horses,” McPeek said. “I like to say I’ve trained enough average horses to know what they look like and enough good ones to know the difference.”

He believes one key to his success is his willingness to look past bloodlines.

“We stick to the physical. I don’t get enamored with the pedigree,” he said. “If a horse has the physical, we’ll put it on the short list and do our due diligence and make sure they vet okay.”

Callahan has long respected McPeek’s keen eye for talent and his willingness to work a sale as hard as it can be worked.

“He does beat the bushes. My horse was purchased out of the next-to-last book at Keeneland’s September Sale,” the owner noted. “I can’t say whether he goes to the last day. But he’s there until the next-to-last day, I can tell you that.”

Fanelli, general manager at a car dealership in New Jersey, describes himself as primarily a “claiming guy” at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. He does some of his best work after inexpensive 2-year-olds in training fail to meet their reserve.

“I got lucky with a few, nothing crazy, but this one was like a miracle,” he said. The son of Cross Traffic, whose back end was not developed when Fanelli acquired him, matured into an earner of $565,470 for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. He is viewed as a threat to Tiz the Law after he narrowly missed overtaking Authentic ($350,000 yearling) in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell at Monmouth Park.

Finnick the Fierce, a third-place finisher in a division of the Arkansas Derby but nonetheless a long shot, is at least a sentimental favorite after all he has overcome to reach the first Saturday in September for trainer Rey Hernandez. Monge, who agreed to board and care for the mare for a year as part of the compensation, saw the one-eyed horse as much more than damaged goods.

“There is something about the look of a horse. I think it’s in the eye,” Monge said. “In his good eye, Finnick had a good eye.”