Half Sister to G1SW Drill Gradutes at Golden Gate

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are grade/group winners, or have dams that are grade/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Golden Gate Fields 

In accordance with the rest of the racing week, the post-Derby slumber drifted into Maiden Watch as well, with only four sophomores making the final cut.

One of the more impressive performances of the past week, however, was far beyond the Twin Spires in hazy San Francisco, Calif. Little Red Feather Racing's Swall , a half sister to grade 1 winner Drill  , rolled clear to a four length maiden score May 13 at Golden Gate Fields.

In her 2nd lifetime start SWALL($13.40) finds the winner's circle at @GGFracing race 9 for trainer Andy Mathis and jockey Francisco Duran. pic.twitter.com/is57xgbajF

— TVG (@TVG) May 14, 2023

Swall, a 3-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper  , was acquired last year by the successful California racing syndicate Little Red Feather for $240,000 following a :10 1/5 eighth-mile breeze at the March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training at Ocala Breeders' Sales Company. The filly didn't return to serious training until this past February at Golden Gate Fields in the barn of local trainer Andy Mathis.

Making her debut April 22 at Golden Gate, Swall missed the break and was never involved. She passed three horses down the lane to finish a flat ninth racing 5 1/2 furlongs. Outfitted with blinkers three weeks later, a revived Swall stumbled slightly out of the gates but recovered within strides, finding her way to the front under jockey Francisco Duran. Pressing early fractions of :22.09 and :45.11 while maintaining a narrow advantage over British-bred Tessa , Swall put away that stubborn rival at the eighth pole and whisked clear.

Swall completed the six furlongs on the all-weather track in 1:10.68.

Unlike her talented half brother, Drill, who broke his maiden during the summer of his 2-year-old year for trainer Bob Baffert, Swall followed in the footsteps of her dam, the Storm Cat mare Cat Dancer. The now 21-year-old mare, the dam of a stellar eight winners from nine foals to race, didn't win her first race until June of her 3-year-old campaign. Upon retirement she passed through the sales ring three times, with the most recent affair being the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale in 2011, where she dropped the hammer to Stonestreet for $1.4 million while in foal to Tiznow .

Drill, a son of Lawyer Ron and a $300,000 yearling purchase himself, proved to be a useful sprinter during his career, accumulating earnings of $557,022 in his career. A precocious juvenile, he captured the 2011 Del Mar Futurity (G1) over Del Mar's old synthetic surface in just his third trip to the post, later adding victories in the 2012 San Vincente Stakes (G2) and Lazaro Barrera Memorial (G3) to his resume.

*denotes 2-year-old