A flashy field of sophomore sprinters line up for Saturday's GII Swale S. at Gulfstream. Courtlandt Farm homebred Strike Power (Speightstown) blitzed a local maiden field Dec. 23 by eight lengths to receive 'TDN Rising Star' status and a lofty 102 Beyer Speed Figure. He was subsequently flattered when the runner-up from that heat returned to earn his own diploma by daylight. “It's a big step up, but there's not a bunch in there that have been running in graded stakes, so they're kind of all stepping up,” trainer Mark Hennig noted. “Certainly going for the second start of his life into a stake is still a tough row to hoe.”
Lael Stable's Tricks to Doo (Into Mischief), a $600,000 OBSMAR acquisition, enters off a pair of blowout victories himself. The Arnaud Delacour pupil donned cap and gown by 5 3/4 lengths at Laurel Oct. 27 over a stablemate who graduated next time out, then he thrashed his foes by 7 1/4 lengths in Tampa's Inaugural S. Dec. 16. Diamond King (Quality Road) also opened his account with a pair of trips to the winner's circle, but clipped heels and lost his rider when attempting to stretch out in Churchill's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 25. He bounced back with a win in Laurel's Heft S. going this trip Dec. 30, and did so after dueling another rival into submission through very hot splits.
Piven (Prospective) looks to build on a victory in the local Limehouse S. Jan. 6, while Gotta Go (Shanghai Bobby)–who annexed Churchill's one-mile Street Sense S. in October–cuts back off his own troubled trip in the Kentucky Jockey Club.
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