Gamine and Swiss Skydiver Face Off in Kentucky Oaks

The Sept. 4 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) pits a pair of 3-year-old fillies who have proved to be the "it girls" this season, despite taking different paths to Churchill Downs. The Oaks, at nine furlongs and worth $1.25 million, remains the top prize for the division even after being moved from early May to Labor Day weekend.

The duo, Michael Lund Petersen's brilliant Gamine and Peter Callahan's consistent Swiss Skydiver, will face seven others in the Oaks. A later start date has allowed for résumé building as four of the other starters are graded stakes winners: Donna Veloce, Hopeful Growth, Shedaresthedevil, and Speech.

Gamine, a daughter of leading sire Into Mischief  out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane, developed early, turning heads as a 2-year-old in training in central Florida with Bobby Dodd. She was a $220,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase by Grand Oaks, and Petersen was resolute while bidding on her at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He got her for a hefty $1.8 million and turned her over to Bob Baffert, a three-time Oaks-winning trainer.

The talented bay hasn't disappointed on the track. A sharp maiden win was followed by a hard-fought neck score over Speech going two turns at Oaklawn Park, but that over Speech was short-lived as she was disqualified after testing positive for lidocaine.

ANGST: BAFFERT SUSPENDED, HORSES DQ'D AFTER DRUG POSITIVES

Since then, Gamine wired the field in the one-turn-mile Longines Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park by 18 3/4 lengths and turned in a similar performance at Saratoga Race Course with a seven-length victory in the seven-furlong Longines Test Stakes (G1). Both efforts produced stakes records.

The lone question is the extra real estate under the Twin Spires.

"I know we're fast and we're going a mile and an eighth for the first time," Baffert said on a rain-soaked Sept. 3 morning. "She went two turns at Oaklawn and ran a really fast time and beat a good filly. Speech is a really good filly.

"She's been going easy since she got here (Sept. 1), but the track is wet, so you can't do much. She's handled everything really well."

The trip is not a question for Swiss Skydiver, a winner of four consecutive graded stakes races against the girls around two turns, including a 3 1/2-length, geared-down score in the 10-furlong Alabama Stakes (G1) Aug. 15 at the Spa. Her lone defeat since February came at the hands of Art Collector in the July 11 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2). She was 4 3/4 lengths clear of the third-placed male that day going 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland.

By Daredevil —Expo Gold, by Johannesburg, Swiss Skydiver was a $35,000 Keeneland September buy. She's earned $952,980 and the respect of horsemen who have run against the sophomore filly.

Swiss Skydiver's trainer, Ken McPeek, who was second in the 2017 Oaks with Daddys Lil Darling, sized up the matchup after drawing post 1 on Sept. 1.

"Her form pretty well proves herself," McPeek said. "The question about Gamine is two turns. She's only run it once, and she had to fight. It's going to be fun to watch.

"My filly is just so hickory. All week she's done nothing but dive into the feed tub. The biggest problem is keeping her settled when we don't feed her quickly."

Swiss Skydiver and Gamine are quick early and have a penchant for the lead—and they have shown an unwillingness to yield.

As much as those two stand out, the Oaks is far from a match race. Speech, a bay filly by Mr Speaker  owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Madaket Stables, and Heider Family Stables, pressed Gamine at Oaklawn, was a good second behind Swiss Skydiver in the June 6 Santa Anita Oaks (G2), then took a big step forward with a three-length score in the July 11 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

Trainer Michael McCarthy, who was based at Churchill Downs when he was a former assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, knows about the heat.

"Being a part of three of these (Oaks) before when I worked with Todd Pletcher—Ashado (2004), Rags to Riches (2007), and Princess of Sylmar (2013)—and then coming here to participate in this on my own is a big deal."

Speech is also a forward-type runner, but expect Javier Castellano to track the big two here after breaking from post 4. Along with the top duo, Speech is the only one to record a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure.

A year ago, trainer Simon Callaghan came to the Oaks with the favorite, Bellafina, and wound up with a fifth-place finish. He returns this year with Kaleem Shah and Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith's Donna Veloce. An $800,000 purchase last year at The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's 2-year-olds in training sale in Florida, she was the favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and just missed by a neck to champion British Idiom. Adding an air of mystery, she ships to Kentucky from Southern California and has not started since a 4 1/4-length tally over Speech in the March 8 Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. The Uncle Mo  filly will be tracking the top pair from post 3.

Trainer Brad Cox had a major breakthrough in 2018 by winning the Oaks with eventual champion Monomoy Girl. She returns on the Derby Day undercard, but in the Oaks, Cox will send out Indiana Oaks (G3) winner Shedaresthedevil (by Daredevil) for Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing, and Big Aut Farms. She takes a sizable step in class but has two wins on the local strip, just one fewer than the rest of the field combined.

Entries: Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1)

Churchill Downs, Friday, September 04, 2020, Race 12

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $1,250,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:45 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Swiss Skydiver (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	121	Kenneth G. McPeek	8/5
2	2Tempers Rising (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	121	Dallas Stewart	50/1
3	3Donna Veloce (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	121	Simon Callaghan	15/1
4	4Speech (FL)	Javier Castellano	121	Michael W. McCarthy	5/1
5	5Gamine (KY)	John R. Velazquez	121	Bob Baffert	1/1
6	6Bayerness (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	121	Cherie DeVaux	50/1
7	7Shedaresthedevil (KY)	Florent Geroux	121	Brad H. Cox	20/1
8	8Hopeful Growth (KY)	Manuel Franco	121	Anthony R. Margotta, Jr.	30/1
9	9Dream Marie (KY)	Joseph Talamo	121	Matthew J. Williams	50/1