An old fashioned Clash of Titans
Real Writing on Racing 💯
When Swiss Skydiver and Monomoy Girl line up in the Oaklawn Park starting gate about ten minutes after six local time on Saturday afternoon, it will almost be like we stepped back in time to a bygone era of racing. For as long as horses were raced in ovals on the North American continent, in Oaklawn’s case since 1904, horseman sought out the best competition, wanting to match their finest steeds up with the other guys speedy steeds to determine who actually had the best horse. That competitive spirit has waned as modern racing has become more of an audition for the lucrative bloodstock market rather than a proving ground for the equine elite.
Yes we still have the classic races like the Triple Crown series and the Breeders Cup where great matchups between the stars of the sport occur. However a great deal of the non-classic season feels like an exercise in facile resume building. Connections are happy stacking up graded credentials and cold hard cash, searching for the yellow brick road of least resistance on the way to the end of the year Championship event. The old phrase, “keep yourself in the best of company and keep your horse in the worst” has never been as pertinent as it is these days.
But not in the 11th race in Hot Springs Arkansas on Saturday, no not this one at all.
Monomoy Girl has been at the top of her division since 2018. She has only been defeated twice and one of those times was by the decree of the Parx stewards so in 16 lifetime starts, one filly (the aptly named Road to Victory) has finished ahead of her…and that was in 2017. She has won seven grade 1 races, she has two Breeders Cup Distaff trophies, she won the Kentucky Oaks and has earned in excess of $4.5 million dollars. Last fall she was sold at auction post Breeders Cup win for $9.5 million dollars. She really has nothing left to prove, this is a chasing history campaign and this matchup might serve to be a huge kickstart for an epic year chasing a few more Eclipse awards to add to her pair already sitting on the mantle.
Swiss Skydiver started out her career losing three of her first four races before grabbing her first stakes win in the Gulfstream Park Oaks, a grade 2 race a little more than a year ago. She then shipped to Oaklawn and won the Fantasy over Monomoy Girl’s barnmate, Shedaresthedevil at 16-1 before shipping cross country to win the Santa Anita Oaks. Trainer Kenny McPeek tried a bold spot for her next start, the delayed Bluegrass Stakes against males in July at Keeneland, where she ran well to be second to Art Collector who at time was an emerging Kentucky Derby contender. A month later she absolutely galloped in the Alabama at a fanless Saratoga which gave Swiss Skydiver her first grade 1 win. She went off as the second choice to the Baffert speedster Gamine in the Kentucky Oaks yet got pinned down inside for much of the race and when she was tipped three wide coming into the stretch she couldn’t rundown Shedaresthedevil who crossed the wire in stakes record time. McPeek got bold again after that disappointing loss and sent her to the Preakness to face off with Derby winner and eventual runaway Horse of the Year, Authentic. In an epic performance with a new jockey, the embattled Robbie Albarado aboard, Swiss Skydiver delivered a historic victory, defeating the Kentucky Derby winner in a stirring stretch duel. She didn’t have much luck in the Distaff in her final start as a three year old but given that she stumbled badly leaving the gate, in her 10th race of her campaign, at her 9th different track, it was an excusable effort. She made her 4 year old debut in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita a month ago, dusting a pretty good field of west coast fillies setting her up for this battle royale against the champ.
We often bemoan the modern racing thought process that can strip historic races of their importance and lead to carefully “managed” schedules resembling what the bombastic college basketball announcer Dick Vitale would call “cupcake city”. That’s not the case at least for this day as we applaud the connections of Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver and for that matter the people associated with the good filly Letruska, for not being afraid to see who is the leader of the pack, settled right there on the racetrack like it’s supposed to be done!
The Apple Blossom Handicap (Gr 1) $1000000
Another Broad - This filly is looking at another loss as she hasn’t won since April of 2019. Trainer Asmussen upset the apple cart in last weeks Arkansas Derby from post 1 in a 6 horse field but its pretty hard to see him upsetting the Apple Blossom unless aliens abduct the other runners while the race is being run.
Swiss Skydiver - The three year old filly champion draws inside the main speed of the race, Letruska, but she won the Preakness with an inside trip and may sneak up the rail if Irad Ortiz let’s his filly drift on the lead to contend with Monomoy Girl who is sure to be making her move moving past the 3/8th pole. An interesting twist is she is running sans lasix despite it being available for use in this race, unlike her seasons debut at Santa Anita where it’s forbidden in all stakes races and she competed without it. On the Going in Circles LIVE segment this week, Ken McPeek stated that he didn’t think she needed it, she would be racing other races later in the year where it wasn’t allowed and that Oaklawn still has a bonus for non-lasix runners, in this case $100,000 (though it appears that amount is the total available for the usual money slots therefore an extra $60000 if Swiss Skydiver wins). On TG she is comparable to Monomoy Girl and a touch faster than Letruska but as she is just turning four she is also much more likely to improve than the older, more mature fillies are. Her second best race on sheets after the Preakness was back last May at Oaklawn, she has a real chance if she moves forward off in her Santa Anita win.
Letruska - She has come along ways since racing in Mexico as a young horse. Her last three races have moved her close to the top of the older filly division after racing a little erratically throughout the spring and summer of her four year old season. She will be on the lead and will take them as far as she can go under new rider Irad Ortiz. The problem for her is that both her main rivals have some tactical speed and she isn’t going to be able to set a really slow pace. The other issue is that she might wind up with Swiss Skydiver on her inside and Monomoy Girl on her outside and fighting them both off might be a little more than she is capable of doing. A lot of wise guys have latched onto her as well as she is the trendy, against the grain selection but sorry not with our money.
Chance to Shine - This spot clearly isn’t a place for her to shine as she is the future book favorite to bring up the rear.
Getridofwhatailesu - Stablemate of Monomoy Girl, she is an Oaklawn Park specialist with 3 of her 4 lifetime wins coming in Hot Springs. She has very little speed and will be hoping to pick up some of the pieces late as this is a million dollar race and earning 100k and a grade 1 placing for finishing 3rd is likely the goal here.
Monomoy Girl - There isn’t much you can say that hasn’t already been said. She always fires, always. She isn’t head and shoulders better than Swiss Skydiver and Letruska, she has to give some weight and figures to get the widest trip of the contenders so she is going to have to work hard and be at the top of her game to win. One thing that her jockey Florent Geroux can’t do is ride overconfidently or focus too much on where Swiss Skydiver is and let Letruska steal a quarter somewhere. He also can’t attack the leader too early and set things up for Swiss Skydiver. It’s a fascinating game of cat and mouse as the three other runners don’t figure to get too involved early as they are all devoid of early speed and the big names will be in sight of each other. She might be as low as 3/5 and I can’t take her at that price with so many tactical questions to be answered. It’s truly a great matchup and even as jaded and cynical as it’s easy to be these days, I’m really looking forward to watching it all go down.
Video of the weekend
This isn’t the first Apple Blossom that Ken McPeek has challenged the reigning filly champion with a four year old filly as his Take Charge Lady pushed Azeri to the limit in the great 2003 running.