Owner Peter Callahan is about as straight-forward and blunt as a person can be.
So, when you ask him to describe what's happened in 2021 to his star filly Swiss Skydiver, do not expect him to mince words.
"It's been extremely frustrating," he said.
After a 2020 campaign in which Swiss Skydiver won the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) for Callahan and trainer Ken McPeek and was named the champion 3-year-old filly after racing at nine different racetracks, the daughter of Daredevil has endured a tumultuous season, to put it mildly.
"It's been a crazy year in which little has gone right," Callahan said, "but it's not over yet. We have some serious races coming up against serious horses and we expect her to give a good account of herself."
The first of those challenging tests is expected to come Aug. 7 when the $35,000 yearling purchase will once again take on the boys in one of the sport's most famous races, this time running in the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
Her mere presence in the Whitney, instead of the July 25 Shuvee Stakes (G3) against fillies and mares, underscores all of the adversity that has been tossed in Swiss Skydiver's path in the last four months.
The year started off quite promisingly when McPeek opted to send her to Santa Anita Park for the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) and his filly responded with a dazzling 2 3/4-length victory.
That set the stage for one of the year's best matchups when she faced two-time champion Monomoy Girl and Letruska in the April 17 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park. The race turned out to be a thriller, with Letruska beating Monomoy Girl by a nose, but Swiss Skydiver was not around at the finish. She dropped back in the stretch to finish third, a surprising 6 1/2 lengths behind the top two.
"She did not like that track and she had an issue that we thought was minor before going out there," the 79-year-old Callahan said about the Apple Blossom. "She had some kind of infection on her foot that they thought they had under control and after the race Kenny thought that perhaps that was a factor."
Next was supposed to be the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) and a rematch with Letruska, but a fever prevented her from running.
That prompted McPeek to target the Shuvee as a prep for either the Aug. 28 Personal Ensign Stakes Presented by Lia Infiniti (G1), where Letruska will be waiting, or another race against the guys in the Sept. 4 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at a more preferable 1 1/4-mile distance that makes it an inviting choice for Swiss Skydiver's next race after the Whitney.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, out of nowhere came the July 15 news that a horse with another trainer stabled at McPeek's Saratoga barn had Equine Herpesvirus-1. Though Swiss Skydiver did not contract the disease, she and the rest of McPeek's horses in the barn had to be placed in quarantine, retroactive to July 11, for 21 days preventing her from running in the Shuvee.
Thus, with Swiss Skydiver eligible to resume training with the rest of the horse colony at the Spa and enter races beginning Aug. 1, the 1 1/8-mile Whitney became the target. Though the Whitney is a "Win and You're In" stakes for the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the money the winner will receive for starting fees and shipping can be applied to any other race at the World Championships, such as the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) for fillies and mares.
"We need to get a good race into this filly with the Breeders' Cup approaching," said Callahan, who owned the grade 1 winner Bevo, co-bred grade 1 victors Collected and Awesome Gem, and bred grade 1 winner Palace. "We chose the Whitney and it's a chancy choice. I looked at the probables for the race and I see some tough critters in there. But Kenny is confident. Some people on television say she's in deep water in the Whitney but they don't know that she's a very good swimmer."
The Whitney, where Swiss Skydiver will face the likes of Maxfield , Silver State , and Knicks Go , can be considered another audible by McPeek. Much like the way famed NFL quarterback Peyton Manning would change plays at the line of scrimmage, McPeek has enjoyed some rather startling success when he's deviated from the predictable course with his horses and taken on tougher tests. One was the Preakness, which he chose over the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) for Swiss Skydiver. It proved to be a stroke of genius when she defeated eventual Horse of the Year Authentic by a neck to become just the second filly since 1924 to win what is now the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
"Kenny is a very intelligent man," Callahan said. "I think there are maybe a dozen trainers across the country, who, if they chose to, if they did something other than training horses, they would be tremendously successful. He's a risk-taker and makes some great judgements. He has (a lot of guts). I don't."
Because of the quarantine, Swiss Skydiver was restricted to galloping around the Oklahoma Training Track after regular training hours. Once she was cleared from quarantine, she logged a five-furlong work around Saratoga's main track Aug. 1 in 1:01.21 that satisfied McPeek.
"We skipped some works with her and some other horses because we weren't sure where they were going. We didn't want to put extra miles on her, so we freshened her a bit," McPeek said about the winner of seven of 14 starts bred by WinStar Farm out of the Johannesburg mare Expo Gold. "It's been tricky but it hasn't affected her. She's extremely professional. Good horses help you make good decisions. You can't be afraid to run them."
In having to train at 11 a.m. due to the restrictions, it created a major change to McPeek's training regimen. His horses and staff are used to working in the early morning hours, but some cool weather and a cohesive group of workers teamed to keep the operation running as smoothly as possible under difficult conditions.
"We were lucky we didn't have any blistering weather because everyone is used to working when it's cool in the mornings. Swiss Skydiver loves to work early in the morning," McPeek said. "It's nice to get back to our regular schedule but the staff did a fantastic job of adapting. I'm really pleased with the people working for me, knowing what they endured."
While Swiss Skydiver will run in the Whitney off 3 1/2 months on the sidelines, McPeek is planning another challenge for her afterwards with the Jockey Club Gold Cup prominent on his mind for the $2.1 million earner who was bought for $35,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Select Sales consignment.
"If she wins or runs second in the Whitney, she'll probably run back in the Jockey Club because it's more distance. Whatever happens the Jockey Club is on my mind," said McPeek, who also considers the Spinster as an option prior to the Breeders' Cup.
Beyond those choices, the time is rapidly approaching for Callahan to make a decision on next year. He's been fielding calls from sales companies, eager to have him enter his 4-year-old filly in their post-Breeders' Cup auctions.
At the moment, Callahan says he has the filly insured for $5 million but is confident she will fetch more than that at a sale. He's also open to a private sale, should someone want to flatter him with a financial offer for the half sister to the stakes-placed Miss Hot Legs (Verrazano).
Adding to the pressure of this weekend, he'll be joined by his three daughters at Saratoga, including Callie, the skydiver over Switzerland for whom Swiss Skydiver is named, for the Whitney, and afterwards there will be a family meeting to decide on future plans.
"If I had to decide today, I'd put in her in a sale, though I'm not sure which of the two (November) sales it would be," said Callahan, a Purchase, N.Y., resident who was the principal owner of the National Enquirer for 10 years and owned numerous trade magazines, including a stake in the Daily Racing Form. "If she's worth as much as some people say she's worth, I think I need to sell. If she's worth more than the five million bucks I would be a fool to take the financial risk. It's just too much of a risk to keep running her. The kids are altruists. They want to keep her and race her and breed her. They think it's easy to be an owner."
As with any conversation with Peter Callahan, that family talk promises to be quite lively and frank.
