Swiss Skydiver

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has awarded $14.3 million to qualified breeders through the Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund for Kentucky Thoroughbreds' wins in 2020. The incentive fund requires owners to board mares in Kentucky from the time of breeding until the birth of the foal. Incentive payments are based on the foal's eventual winnings on the racetrack. Last year, nearly 3,500 races were won by a Kentucky-bred receiving a breeder award. Kentucky-breds won over 245 graded stakes in the United States and 18 group races in Canada, England, France and...

A wise man changes his mind, but a fool never will. Such is the association between the commercial market and Daredevil (More Than Ready-- Chasethewildwind, by Forestry). Luckily for the third-crop sire, the market was quick to change its opinion and Lane's End jumped on the opportunity to bring him back. After Daredevil failed to attract mares to fill his fourth book in 2019, WinStar Farm accepted an offer from the Jockey Club of Turkey and the son of More Than Ready boarded a flight abroad for last year's breeding...

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) dominated the 3-year-old filly division in 2020 and even defeated some of the top older males of her generation, making her the clear-cut choice for this award. Kicking off her sophomore season with a third in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at Fair Grounds in February, the $35,000 KEESEP buy rebounded with a trio of decisive victories in the Mar. 28 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, May 1 GIII Fantasy S. and June 6 GII Santa Anita Oaks. Trainer Ken McPeek tried his charge against males for the...

Leading the way with five Grade I victories in 2020, including a win in the second leg of the Triple Crown and a GI Kentucky Oaks exacta, WinStar Farm was recognized as Outstanding Breeder. It was the third Eclipse Award for Kenny Troutt's operation and second as Outstanding Breeder (2016). WinStar ranked second overall via breeder earnings in 2020, trailing only Calumet Farm, capturing 148 victories from 1,106 starters, and $9,221,764 in earnings. Top horses in 2020 bred by WinStar include: Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) (GI Preakness S. and GI Alabama...

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley After last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic, it seemed that every horse that mattered had been retired and that 2021 was going to be a bleak year for the handicap ranks. But 23 days into the year, it is apparent that's not going to be the case. First, Charlatan (Speightstown) turned in a sizzling performance in his comeback race in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. and, exactly four weeks, later Knicks Go (Paynter) could not have won the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational...

Brendan Walsh joined this week's TDN Writers' Room with his undefeated star Maxfield set to return in the Tenacious Stakes this weekend after a 7-month layoff.

He who dares, wins. For commercial breeders, however, that famous military maxim is becoming ever less practicable. Rather than hold their nerve, they rush nervously from one new stallion to the next, few daring to stick around long enough to take a yearling to market once a first crop has actually been exposed to the racetrack. These cycles often become self-fulfilling, in that few stallions can seize so limited an opportunity in time to maintain adequate momentum. But every now and then, one comes along that, no sooner than he...

Voting for this year's Secretariat 'Vox Populi' Horse of 2020 Award is now underway online at Secretariat.com or AmericasBestRacing.net. Created by Secretariat's late owner Penny Chenery, the Vox Populi, or "Voice of the People," award recognizes the racehorse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for the sport during the past year. Fans can vote on one of five nominees selected by the award's committee, or choose a write-in option, through Nov. 30. The nominees are: GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic...

Featuring five deep, competitive fields and plenty of intrigue, Future Stars Friday will get the two-day, 37th Breeders' Cup World Championships festivities underway from historic Keeneland Race Course. First post on the all-stakes card at the bucolic oval, hosting the Breeders' Cup for the second time, is 11:30 a.m. ET, with the first Breeders' Cup race set to run at 2:30 p.m. All in all, 184 horses were entered in the 14 World Championship races, which conclude with the highly-anticipated GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, slated for 5:18 p.m. Saturday....

The countdown is running to a close for the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championship and perhaps no one has more Breeders' Cup memories to share than Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who made an astounding 15 trips to the Breeders' Cup winner's circle during his 31-year career, including a record five wins in the Classic. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week for Wednesday's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, Bailey spoke on some of his favorite Breeders' Cup moments, as well as...

The Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland November sales are known as places to shop for some of the best racemares in the country as they conclude their careers on the track and transition into motherhood. However, the other prize offerings at both auctions are the mothers of some of the country's most talented runners. Many breeders have shifted focus towards these proven producers in hopes that if they did it once, they can do it again, like three-time Grade I producer Leslie's Lady or Littleprincessemma, who has produced a Triple Crown winner...

Continuing a trend of favorites and short prices drawing outside at Monday's Rood & Riddle Breeders' Cup Post Position Draw, the potent trio of Bob Baffert contenders in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic drew next door to each other in the three widest posts in a loaded field for the 1 1/4-mile test. Given a slight nod on the morning line at 5-2, Improbable (City Zip) was parked in the eight-hole when pills were pulled. The 'TDN Rising Star', who had an up-and-down 3-year-old season, has come into his...