Swiss Skydiver beats Authentic in Preakness
BALTIMORE (AP) — Those hanging around the heavily restricted stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course this week joked around that Authentic would stare down filly Swiss Skydiver whenever she walked past.
“He got a good look at her today,” jockey Robby Albarado said.
Swiss Skydiver added one final memorable moment to cap off a topsy-turvy Triple Crown season, beating favoured Authentic by a neck after a stretch duel in the Preakness Stakes run without fans Saturday. She became the sixth filly and first since Rachel Alexandra in 2009 to win the Preakness.
“She’s just such a special filly,” said trainer Kenny Mcpeek, who won the Preakness for the first time for his second Triple Crown race victory. “Just a real honour to be around a horse like this.”
Jesus’ Team was a distant third at 40-1 and Art Collector fourth at 2-1. The 145th runn ing of the Preakness at a mostly empty Pimlico came four weeks after the Kentucky Derby and 3 1/2 months since the Belmont, as they were held out of order for the first time since the 1930s.
At 11-1 odds, Swiss Skydiver pulled off an upset of 3-2 favourite and Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.
“I had an opportunity,” said Albarado, who won his second Preakness after 2007 aboard Curlin, explaining “I took advantage of the rail. Johnny [Velasquez] stayed off the fence there [so I] made a conscious decision to move at that time, give or take now. [The decision came down to] if I make that move now or [do I] I wait and get smothered.”
Mcpeek won a Triple
Crown race for the first time since the 2002 Belmont with Sarava, which was the biggest upset in the history of that race. Swiss Skydiver was the first filly to run in the Preakness since 2014, when Ria Antonia finished last.
“I didn’t feel that much tension, really,” Mcpeek said. “I felt like we had her well-prepared. Any horse race, things have to go your way. But every day she was happy, she was bright-eyed.”
It went Swiss Skydiver’s way in part because Authentic’s Hall of Fame jockey, John Velazquez, abandoned the rail, giving Albarado the lane for a near-perfect trip.
“That’s a good filly,” said Authentic and Thousand Words trainer Bob Baffert, who was denied a record-breaking eighth Preakness victory.
“He had every chance to get by her [but] he got beat. He just couldn’t get by her. She dug in – she’s tough.”
The Preakness was run with only owners, trainers and essential personnel in attendance, a far cry from the usual mid-may party with patrons in fancy hats and suits in some areas of the track.