Swiss Skydiver to run Lasix free in Apple Blossom
At 2h27, on April 17, 2021 • By OAKLAWN PARK
Five horses are scheduled to run for a $1 million purse in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares Saturday at Oaklawn. The sixth entrant will be running for a little bit more.
Champion Swiss Skydiver can collect a $60,000 bonus for the winning the Apple Blossom because she won’t be treated with Lasix. Oaklawn’s Lasix-free Bonus Program provides a 10 percent bonus to the winner’s share of the purse, amounts that range from $1,620 for its minimum purse ($27,000) to a whopping $60,000 for $1 million races like the Apple Blossom or Saturday’s Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses. If the fields remain intact, the winner’s share for both races is $600,000.
Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver made her first 12 career starts on Lasix before removing the anti-bleeder medication for her last race, a 2 ¾-length victory in the $300,000 Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) March 13 at Santa Anita. Lasix is now prohibited for most stakes races in California.
“She doesn’t need it,” McPeek said. “She’s never really needed it. We took her off Lasix for her last start because she’s going to be running the rest of the year without it, anyway.”
McPeek’s stance isn’t surprising, considering his history with Oaklawn’s Lasix-free Bonus Program, which was announced in September 2014 and implemented during the 2015 meeting.
When McPeek had a division of horses at Oaklawn in 2015-2018, he took some off Lasix to chase the bonus and has five Lasix-free winners overall to rank tied for second in program history. Will VanMeter, who quit training last fall, has a record nine Lasix-free winners since Oaklawn’s program was implemented.
Among McPeek’s Lasix-free winners is Eskimo Kisses, who captured an entry-level allowance race by 11 ½ lengths at the 2018 Oaklawn meeting in her first start off the anti-bleeder medication. She received a $4,740 bonus. Eskimo Kisses, on Lasix, won the historic $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old fillies later that year at Saratoga.
Both McPeek and VanMeter have trained for prominent Hot Springs breeder/owner John Ed Anthony, who is a staunch hay, oats and water advocate. Anthony leads all owners in Lasix-free winners (10) and collected a record $6,000 bonus for Sekani’s victory in last year’s $100,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred female sprinters. Sekani, who was then trained by VanMeter, is the only horse to collect a Lasix-free bonus in a stakes race.
“I guess we’re running for $1,060,000,” McPeek said, adding he discussed the move with Swiss Skydiver’s owner, Peter Callahan. “She doesn’t need Lasix.”
Swiss Skydiver won an Eclipse Award as the country’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2020 after winning five races, including Oaklawn’s $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3).
