Art Collector Outruns Swiss Skydiver to Win Blue Grass

Art Collector painted a rosy picture for his Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) prospects by defeating 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver and 11 other colts and geldings July 11 in the $600,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

Well placed under Brian Hernandez Jr., Art Collector stalked Swiss Skydiver as she set the pace with fractions of :46.61 and 1:10.63 while pressed to her inside by Shivaree in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race. Called into action on the second turn, Art Collector went after the leader, and the most compelling running of the race began.

The 3-year-old son of Bernardini  pulled alongside the filly's flank and gradually cut into her advantage before wearing her down in the final furlong and pulling away by 3 1/2 lengths. The victory earned him 100 qualifying points toward the Derby, which was postponed this year to Sept. 5 because of COVID-19.

Racing on a fast track that generated quick times, Art Collector stopped the clock in 1:48.11, just .82 off Skip Away's stakes record of 1:47.29 set in 1996.

Hernandez said he had no reservations about the Bruce Lunsford homebred being able to stretch out a furlong in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby.

"You (saw) him today going a mile and an eighth," he said. "They're all 3-year-olds, and we're all going to be trying to go a mile and a quarter. We've got one of the Derby favorites now, so you've got to be excited."

Swiss Skydiver, the leading points earner for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), turned in a valiant effort in settling for second, outpacing all of her other rivals and finishing 4 3/4 lengths ahead of wide-running Rushie in third.

Just the second filly in history to race in the Ashland—following Harriet Sue, who was fifth in 1944—Swiss Skydiver earned 40 qualifying points toward the Derby, typically enough to gain entrance, though trainer Kenny McPeek seemed more inclined to pursue the Oaks in the immediate aftermath of the Blue Grass.

The filly tired over the final furlong, which Trakus timed in :13.36. 

"Her fractions were pretty taxing, but she is fast. She is so special," McPeek said. "We might lean against going to the Derby. We might go to the Alabama (G1) (or) consider waiting for the Kentucky Oaks."

The Aug. 15 Alabama Stakes is a 1 1/4-mile race at Saratoga Race Course, run 20 days before the Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Enforceable rallied for fourth Saturday while never a threat. He was followed by Attachment Rate in fifth.

Although Art Collector had not won a stakes or raced in a graded contest prior to the Blue Grass, bettors accurately viewed him as a leading contender. Coming off two consecutive allowance-level victories on dirt at Churchill Downs, including a 6 1/2-length score over eventual Indiana Derby (G3) winner Shared Sense, Art Collector went off at odds of just over 2-1, right behind narrow favorite Swiss Skydiver. He paid $6.60.

"He's a really good horse," Hernandez said. "If you go back and watch all his replays, he's just a very athletic horse. I think one of the most impressive races he ran was the day at Churchill he got shuffled around and almost fell down. I almost pulled him up, but he ran again. From that day on, we always believed he was a really good horse. It's been a fun ride."

The colt provided Thomas Drury Jr. with the first graded stakes win of his training career, which began in 1991. Drury has long handled lay-ups, comebacking horses usually destined to be sent for other trainers but has seen his opportunities grow over the past decade. Nine times since 2010 his stable has earned more than $500,000, something it never did from 1991-2009.

EHALT: Art Collector Becomes a Silver Lining for Drury

His runners had $329,523 this year before Saturday and got a $360,000 boost with Art Collector's score.

"I'm at a loss for words," Drury said. "It takes a village to get these things; there's a lot of people who have done their part. I'm just honored to be able to share this with my staff and everyone that worked to get him here."

Drury began training Art Collector this spring after the colt was disqualified from an allowance victory last fall in Kentucky when under the care of trainer Joe Sharp. The colt had tested positive for levamisole, a prohibited substance that Sharp said was in a deworming product he used late last fall and early winter.

Lunsford told BloodHorse he took Art Collector and other horses away from Sharp as a result of the disqualification.

Lunsford, a successful Kentucky businessman, co-founded Vencor, an eventual Fortune 500 company. Later, he was unsuccessful in two major political bids in the state, first for governor in 2007 and a year later for a U.S. Senate seat.

Bred in Kentucky, Art Collector is the first stakes winner for his dam, the stakes-winning Distorted Humor mare Distorted Legacy. A half sister to Illinois Derby (G2) winner Vision and Verse, Distorted Legacy won the 2011 Sky Beauty Stakes at Belmont Park and placed in the Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes (G1T) that year. She finished 2011 with a fourth in the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) at Churchill Downs.

Distorted Legacy has produced two foals of racing age, and Art Collector is her only winner. She has a yearling colt by Into Mischief  and foaled another Into Mischief colt this year.

Art Collector gave Bernardini his 75th black-type win as a sire. Darley's perennial leading sire stood the 2020 season for an advertised fee of $40,000.

Video: Toyota Blue Grass S. (G2)