A week ago, the "Only in 2020" folder received a new addition in the form of a 3-year-old winning an American grade 1 stakes at 1 1/4 miles in his start prior to the 10-furlong Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
This weekend, at the same Saratoga Race Course where Tiz the Law captured the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) a week ago, 3-year-old fillies will get their chance to do something unprecedented when seven of them will square off Aug. 15 in the $500,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at 1 1/4 miles in what should be an unusually long springboard to the shorter, 1 1/8-mile Sept. 4 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).
Topping the entries is Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver, who looms as perhaps the toughest rival for Gamine in the Kentucky Oaks based on her spring accomplishments of three graded stakes wins and a second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) against colts.
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Given how she was second to a top Kentucky Derby candidate in Art Collector five weeks ago in the Blue Grass and that the Kentucky Oaks is just three weeks away, in this era of extended rest between starts, it would not have been unusual to see Swiss Skydiver spend eight weeks training up to the Run for the Lilies next month at Churchill Downs.
Yet for trainer Ken McPeek, the Alabama was simply too prestigious of an opportunity to pass up.
"She's a top filly. She's so sturdy," said McPeek, who also entered Envoutante. "The Alabama is such a great race that it was tough to turn our nose up at it, considering how well she's been doing. We're pretty excited about it."
Deciding to run means Swiss Skydiver will have just 20 days to bounce back after a potentially grueling 10-furlong test at the Spa and cut back in distance to face the brilliant Gamine, who won two grade 1 tests in her past two starts by a combined margin of nearly 26 lengths.
"They are both scheduled to give the Kentucky Oaks a run," McPeek said about his two entrants in Saturday's stakes. "Three weeks used to be nothing in the old days. Now everyone wants to stretch out with more time between races, but I think both fillies can handle it. They are both good, sturdy fillies coming into a great race the right way."
Brad Cox, who trains Juddmonte Farms' Alabama starter Bonny South, admits the relatively short turnaround from the Spa stakes to the Kentucky Oaks is a cause for at least some concern.
"We'll see what happens Saturday and talk it over with the Juddmonte team," he said. "It would be a lot to run a mile and a quarter and turn around in three weeks and run in a grade 1 stakes like the Kentucky Oaks. It's a big ask, but we'll see how things go Saturday and how she rebounds from it."
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In order to be guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Oaks, Envoutante will need to finish at least second in the Alabama, which is the final qualifying race for the Kentucky Oaks and awards 100-40-20-10 points to the top four finishers. The daughter of Uncle Mo owned by Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm already has 20 points and is 19th on the leaderboard for the Oaks, which has 14 starting spots, and at the moment 40 points would only put her on the cusp of making the field.
Swiss Skydiver and Bonny South have both wrapped up potential spots in the Kentucky Oaks with 350 points and 110 points, respectively, ranking them first and third.
An additional benefit of the Alabama is its value as a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" qualifier, providing the winner a free entry in the Nov. 7 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland.
For Swiss Skydiver, the Alabama will showcase McPeek's belief that route racing has been the secret to her success in her bid for her first grade 1 victory. Prior to her runner-up finish to males in the Blue Grass, the daughter of Daredevil won three consecutive graded two-turn stakes against fellow 3-year-old fillies: the Santa Anita Oaks (G2), Fantasy Stakes (G3), and Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2).
"We needed to get her to two turns more than anything. She never got a chance to run two turns at 2 because the races wouldn't fill or the timing wasn't right," McPeek said about a filly bred by WinStar Farm who has four wins and two seconds in eight starts. "But now that we've been able to get her in a nice routine and since she started running two turns, she's gotten better and better."
With earnings of $677,980, she has proven to be a huge bargain for Callahan and McPeek. They bought the daughter of the Johannesburg mare Expo Gold for $35,000 from the Select Sales consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"She's obviously a very smart, classy filly, and at that price range the risk/reward works for you," McPeek said. "It's something that has worked well for me for a long time."
While racing beyond nine furlongs for the first time, Swiss Skydiver and jockey Tyler Gaffalione should be on the lead or close to the early pace in the 140th Alabama.
"I think she'll handle it fine," McPeek said about the 10 furlongs. "She's handled everything else we've thrown at her. She can set her own pace here, and we'll see if they catch her."
Meanwhile, Envoutante will be stalking and hoping for a quick pace. She was third most recently in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1), 6 3/4 lengths behind the victorious Speech in her graded stakes debut.
"With (Envoutante), we're going to be a little more tactical and make one run. The plan all along was to bring her here for the Alabama," McPeek said about the filly bred by Jumping Jack Racing out of the Bluegrass Cat mare Enchante who was bought for $250,000 from the Baccari Bloodstock consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September sale. "We won the 2018 Alabama a few years ago with Eskimo Kisses, and she's on a similar pattern to her. If Swiss Skydiver is going to get beat, Envoutante could beat her. They are two good fillies, and unfortunately I have to run them against each other, which I hate to do, but (Envoutante) is also doing fantastic. It's a nice problem having two fillies who deserve a chance to run in a grade 1 stakes."
Bonny South comes into the Alabama off a non-menacing fourth in the July 11 Ashland, which was a disappointment after a sharp victory in the March 21 Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).
"She's doing well. I think she'll like the mile and a quarter," Cox said about the homebred daughter of Munnings out of the Tapit mare Touch the Star. "It's something we've been thinking about all spring and summer with her. We had a little break between the Fair Grounds Oaks and the Ashland, and I thought she ran well in the Ashland, but we didn't get the pace setup I thought we needed. Given the time off, she may have needed the race. It's been a weird campaign for her because there (were) not many options for her in the Midwest."
The field also includes Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) runner-up Crystal Ball, who will bid for trainer Bob Baffert's first Alabama win since 1999 with Silverbulletday. Spice Is Nice, Harvey's Lil Goil, and Fire Coral complete the lineup.
Of that group, Crystal Ball (40) and Spice Is Nice (20) have the most Kentucky Oaks points.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 15, 2020, Race 9Entries: Alabama S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Envoutante (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 121 Kenneth G. McPeek 8/1 2 2Spice Is Nice (KY) John R. Velazquez 121 Todd A. Pletcher 3/1 3 3Crystal Ball (KY) Javier Castellano 121 Bob Baffert 9/2 4 4Bonny South (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 121 Brad H. Cox 8/1 5 5Swiss Skydiver (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 121 Kenneth G. McPeek 1/1 6 6Harvey's Lil Goil (KY) Junior Alvarado 121 William I. Mott 10/1 7 7Fire Coral (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 121 Steven M. Asmussen 30/1
