Sister Swank Surges to Valley View Triumph

(from Keeneland report)
Sister Swank charged past Jinny's Gold in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the $116,300 Valley View Stakes (gr. IIIT) Saturday at Keeneland.

Ridden by Pat Day, the daughter of Skip Away ran 1 1/16 miles on the yielding turf course in 1:46.75 to post her fourth win in 10 career starts and increase her earnings to $241,321 for owner Heiligbrodt Racing Stable.

"The ground is getting chewed up, but this filly handled it pretty well," said Day. "She was slow to find her best stride, but once she got leveled off, she found her best gear."

Sister Swank finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of second-place Jinny's Gold, who set the pace of :23 2/5, :48 3/5 and 1:14 1/5 and led by 2 1/2 lengths in the stretch. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to third-place Shadow Cast in the field of 12 3-year-old fillies.

In her last start, Sister Swank finished third to Ticker Tape in the Pucker Up Stakes (gr. IIIT) on Sept. 18 at Arlington Park. Steve Asmussen trains the winner, who paid $8.60, $6 and $4.20 as the second choice.

Jinny's Gold, ridden by Calvin Borel, returned $7.20 and $4.80 and Shadow Cast, with Robby Albarado aboard, paid $4.

Lenatareese, the winner of the Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park and the slight 3-1 favorite, lingered near the back of the pack early and finished eighth under Larry Melancon.

(Chart, Equibase)