Knicks Go (Paynter), a razor-sharp winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 7 and GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Jan. 23, got back on track in a big way with a front-running, tour-de-force victory in Friday evening's GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H.
Fourth in both the $20-million Saudi Cup Feb. 20 and GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 5, the 3-5 favorite cleared the field heading into the clubhouse turn in this return to his preferred two-turn trip. The 2018 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity hero carved out fractions of :23.33 and :47.02, let it out a notch on the far turn and dropped the hammer in the stretch to win by an effortless, 10 1/4 lengths over Last Judgment (Congrats). Knicks Go received a career-best 113 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
Pedigree Notes:
Knicks Go stands alone as the only Grade I winner to date for Paynter, who has four graded winners among his 17 black-type winners. The breeding of Knicks Go has been well-documented, with his dam's last two matings being significantly upgraded: Kosmo's Buddy has a yearling filly by Justify and a filly by Ghostzapper of this year. Ghostzapper, like Paynter, is a son of Awesome Again.
Knicks Go, the fifth Maryland-bred generation of his family, is one of 10 stakes winners out of daughters of the Danzig sire Outflanker. The Moore family's Green Mount Farm claimed the two-time stakes winner Kosmo's Buddy for $40,000 in her penultimate career start at Monmouth in 2010. She RNA'd for $195,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale.
Friday, Prairie Meadows
PRAIRIE MEADOWS CORNHUSKER H.-GIII, $300,000, Prairie Meadows, 7-2, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.33, ft.
1–KNICKS GO, 126, h, 5, by Paynter
1st Dam: Kosmo's Buddy (MSW, $298,095), by Outflanker
2nd Dam: Vaulted, by Allen's Prospect
3rd Dam: Aube d'Or, by Medaille d'Or
($40,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $87,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Korea
Racing Authority; B-Angie Moore (MD); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Joel
Rosario. $180,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 21-7-3-1,
$4,833,995. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Last Judgment, 120, g, 5, Congrats–Fantasy Forest, by
Forestry. ($90,000 Ylg '17 FTKOCT; $300,000 2yo '18 OBSAPR).
O-Michael Dubb, Steve Hornstock, Michael J. Caruso & Nice
Guys Stables; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds, LLC (FL); T-Michael Maker. $60,000.
3–Rated R Superstar, 117, g, 8, Kodiak Kowboy–Wicked Wish,
by Gold Case. O-Danny R. Caldwell; B-ThornDale Stable LLC
(KY); T-Federico Villafranco. $30,000.
Margins: 10 1/4, HF, 12. Odds: 0.60, 3.40, 17.80.
Also Ran: Tenfold, Dinar, Modernist. Scratched: Drifting West.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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