Owner: Swiss Skydiver will race in '21, maybe in BC Classic

On to 2021.

Owner Peter Callahan gave Swiss Skydiver fans the news they have been hoping for Monday when he said he and trainer Ken McPeek will soon begin planning a 4-year-old campaign for his brilliant filly.

“My family, they’d kill me if she was retired,” Callahan said.

He noted that financial considerations were secondary when he finalized his decision.

“The kids don’t care about that. They care about having fun, and we did have fun,” the 78-year-old owner said, referring to his three daughters and four granddaughters, among others.

Swiss Skydiver, one of the great bargains of all time when she was purchased by McPeek for $35,000 as a yearling, won half of her 10 starts with each of her victories coming in a different state. She earned $1,761,820.

The highlight, of course, came when she outslugged Kentucky Derby and eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic to become the sixth female to win the Preakness in the race’s 145-year history. Her time of 1:53.28 for the 1 3/16-mile contest trailed only the mighty Secretariat’s 1:53 in 1973.

Not even Swiss Skydiver’s stumble at the start of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff and subsequent seventh-place finish at Keeneland on Saturday could dim Callahan’s enthusiasm. The victory party that had been planned simply took a different form.

“We converted it into an excuses party and we partied hearty,” he said, adding, “The kids enjoy racing.”

Callahan has overcome serious health issues. He said he opened the evening by emphasizing the importance of coping with setbacks in life.

“I’m OK finishing where we finished at the back of the pack, because there is a life lesson to be learned,” he said. “In this day and age everybody gets a trophy, and that’s nonsense. You’ve got to learn to lose. You’ve got to take disappointment and rejection.”

Callahan ruled out opening next season by opposing males in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park. “It’s too soon. It’s way too soon,” he said.

He left open the possibility that Swiss Skydiver may take on the boys again. “We’re not afraid of that,” he said.

Callahan said McPeek expressed some second thoughts to him about their decision making ahead of the Breeders’ Cup. According to the owner, McPeek thought Swiss Skydiver might have been better served by starting her in the $6 million Classic, because he is convinced she is better suited to 1 1/4 miles than the Distaff's 1 1/8.

Zenyatta is the only female to win the Classic in the 37-year history of the Breeders’ Cup, accomplishing that in 2009. The possibility of having Swiss Skydiver in the Classic at Del Mar would surely add spice to next season.

“We’re just starting to draw some plans for 2021 and, if we want to sell her at some point, we know where to sell her, and we’ve got reasonable expectations as to what she’d be worth in the auction ring. So it’s all good,” Callahan said.

The owner said Swiss Skydiver emerged from the Distaff with “nicks and bruises but nothing we can’t handle.” She will go to McPeek’s Magdalena Farm in Lexington, Ky., for a well-deserved vacation after her admirable but lengthy campaign.

“We’re going to give her a little bit of a break right now and ease her back into things after the first of the year,” McPeek said.

Whatever the future brings, McPeek and countless racing fans will always treasure memories of Swiss Skydiver’s 3-year-old season in a year dominated by frightening COVID-19 news.

“It’s been an amazing year. She’s just been real special to be around,” McPeek said. “Through all the pandemic and everything, she’s just been a real shining light.”