Golden State Series Generous Portion Stakes

SIBLING RIVALRY

THIRD FULL SIBLING EARNS HER STAKES STRIPES

BY TRACY GANTZ

If horses understood sibling rivalry, any ofspring of Sky Marni would feel intimidated. Nick Alexander has bred the mare exclusively to his stallion Grazen, and the cross has produced six winners from six starters, half of them stakes winners.

© BENOIT PHOTOS

Nick Alexander’s 2-year-old flly Connie Swingle takes the Generous Portion Stakes at Del Mar in her third start

Connie Swingle is the latest, following Grazen Sky and S Y Sky. Te flly is only 2, but she became a stakes winner in her third start, the $102,000 Generous Portion Stakes Sept. 3 at Del Mar.

If Grazen Sky and S Y Sky are any indication, Connie Swingle has many more stakes wins and/or placings ahead. Grazen Sky won the 2015 Silky Sullivan Stakes and placed in seven other stakes while S Y Sky won the 2019 Monrovia Stakes (G3) and four other stakes and placed in fve additional stakes.

Connie Swingle didn’t fool any bettors after she broke her maiden by 71⁄2 lengths at Del Mar Aug. 6 under jockey Geovanni Franco. Tey sent her of as the 7-10 favorite in the six-furlong Generous Portion against nine rivals.

Franco returned to ride Connie Swingle for trainer Phil D’Amato.

“Phil told me to play the break and get a good spot with her,” said Franco.

Longshot Sally Stanford set the early pace of :22.23 for the frst quarter-mile and :45.04 for a half-mile while Connie Swingle tracked her in second. Wide into the stretch, Connie Swingle took over nearing the eighth pole and drew of to defeat Carmen Miranda by 31⁄4 lengths in 1:10.89. Big Novel fnished third.

“She was running nice and easy, and when we got to the turn, I think she was playing with them,” Franco said.

D’Amato completed the exacta with Carmen Miranda, another Alexander homebred.

“I think she’ll run on, and the same for Carmen Miranda,” said D’Amato. “I think she’s just kind of dying for two turns.”

Alexander likes to name horses for historical fgures. He turned to drag racing for Connie Swingle, a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame and a male, despite the female-sounding moniker.

“I was running out of war hero or baseball names for fllies, and Connie Swingle sounds like a girl’s name,” Alexander said. “Connie was a legend from drag racing’s most colorful era, the ’60s. He was a Choctaw Indian from Oklahoma—a tireless worker, ferce competitor, and the fastest top fuel driver I ever saw.”

As for the equine Connie Swingle’s family, they are likely to produce even more runners. Alexander says that Sky Marni has a yearling flly and a weanling colt by Grazen, while S Y Sky has a Kantharos weanling flly and is in foal to Sir Prancealot.

A smiling Nick Alexander, second left, proudly leads the Del Mar winner’s circle celebration for his homebred Connie Swingle’s victory