A Triple Crown season like no other closed with a dramatic twist when Swiss Skydiver emerged as the sixth filly to win the Preakness Stakes in the race’s rich 145-year history on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Simply Ravishing, a daylight winner of the Sept. 3 P. G. Johnson Stakes, took her game to another level with equal skill in the $350,000 Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes Oct. 2 at Keeneland.
When trainer Ken McPeek decided to buck history by entering the filly Swiss Skydiver in the 145th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, he was keeping close to him the words of his late mother, Ann.
“Son, stretch yourself,” she told him. “You’ll be fine.”
Dan’s Double of the Week, featuring handicapping analysis from America's Best Racing's New York correspondent Dan Tordjman, is brought to you by Horseplayers.com, the official online qualifying site of the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and National Horseplayers Championship (NHC). Horseplayers.com offers low-cost feeders every day and BCBC and NHC qualifiers every weekend, and it’s the only site where you can qualify for the $1 million BCBC.
Bob Ehalt and Tom Pedulla became fast friends when they met on their first day at Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1970.
Bob soon introduced Tom to the joys of thoroughbred racing. They have endured some rough moments at the track, with Tom taking exception when Bob repeatedly smacks him on the back with a program as one of their horses launches an all-out drive. Much to Tom’s chagrin and the amusement of onlookers, Bob has been known to call for security as he proceeds to cash a $27 triple.
