McPeek plots Triple Crown-eligible Swiss Skydiver's course
She has enough points to get into the Kentucky Oaks three times over. But how about Swiss Skydiver taking on the boys?
Trainer Ken McPeek said that it is a possibility – but probably not in the Kentucky Derby.
“Perhaps the Preakness is an option,” McPeek said Monday, two days after Swiss Skydiver ran her winning streak to three with a four-length victory in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2). “I just wanted to have it as an option. (Owner) Peter Callahan thought it was a good idea, and together we decided to nominate her.”
Sired by Daredevil and bought by Callahan for just $35,000 at the 2018 Keeneland Yearling Sale, Swiss Skydiver was among the 22 late nominations announced last week for the Triple Crown.
“Who knows where we go?” Callahan said by phone Monday from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where he was about to have lunch with McPeek. “I’m just buckling my seatbelt. Wherever she wants to take me I’m game.”
But first and second and third things first.
McPeek said that Swiss Skydiver “came back fine” from Santa Anita Park and landed home at Churchill Downs on Sunday. He has mapped out a path to the Oaks that will take her through the 8 1/2-furlong Ashland (G1) on July 11 at Keeneland and then, if the scheduling allows it, the 1 1/4-mile Alabama (G1) at Saratoga. Then comes the nine-furlong Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs.
“I believe when a horse is doing good I’ve never been scared to run,” McPeek said. “She obviously proved us right on Saturday.”
Facing only three rivals, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith did not have to floor the accelerator in his first ride on Swiss Skydiver.
“When a horse puts its ears forward like that, that means there usually is something left in the tank,” Smith said right after the filly’s third consecutive graded stakes victory. “They are kind of taking a breather looking at things. When I tightened the reins up, she really accelerated. I kept busy until the eighth pole, and really she was on cruise control after that.”
McPeek said that he had mixed feelings about shipping Swiss Skydiver to Santa Anita, her sixth different racetrack in seven races. But he felt he had no choice.
“There were no options at home,” he said. “I was going to be 10 weeks in between races waiting for the Ashland. You don’t turn your nose up at races like the Santa Anita Oaks or the Ashland or even the Alabama. Those are great races in their own right. If she’s doing well, then we’re not going to hesitate. She’ll run.”
McPeek is never afraid to show his ambitious side, and in Callahan he has a kindred spirit. After Swiss Skydiver won last month’s Fantasy Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, they openly talked about shipping her to Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas (G1) on the turf at Newmarket, England. But then pandemic red tape got in the way.
“It quickly eliminated itself because of the logistical problems principally connected with the virus,” said Callahan, who is best known as being the retired owner of the National Enquirer. “I think there is grass in her future. Of course it opens up a question about racing her as a 4-year-old. That’s to be determined. But we’ve got some important stuff before we try that.”
McPeek has had a longstanding relationship with Callahan that clearly goes beyond business. He credited Callahan with being a loyal supporter during lean years that have come and gone in the past two decades.
“He’s been a guy that gets it,” McPeek said. “The truth is that he and I have had an extended period where we haven’t had a good horse. It wasn’t out of a lack of effort. It just wasn’t happening.”
“In the horseracing business you go through highs and lows,” Callahan said. “But Kenny has always been phenomenal looking at these horses, especially the inexpensive ones. If he wants to buy a $25,000 horse a lot of his owners say, ‘What, are you, crazy? There must be something wrong.’
"I don’t do that. When he says, ‘I’ve got one; she could be good and not too expensive,’ my ears perk up. This is what he did for me for Swiss Skydiver.”
“He actually was a bigger cheerleader for me,” McPeek said. “He said, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll get one.’ Sure enough, here she is. And she’s been a real dream come true for everybody.”
After he and Callahan go to the Ocala 2-year-old sale that runs Tuesday through Friday, McPeek will return to Louisville and expects Swiss Skydiver to resume breezing in about two weeks.
Ron Flatter has covered horse racing around the world for more than 30 years. Currently based in Nevada and working for the Vegas Stats & Information Network, he is host of the weekly Ron Flatter Racing Pod and on Twitter @ronflatter.