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Knicks Go Gets 111 Beyer Speed Figure For Whitney Win

Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go continued to flaunt his winning ways, defeating a compact but talented group of all graded stakes-winning millionaires in Saturday's $1 million Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Brad Cox, the now four-time Grade 1 winner arrived at the nine-furlong Whitney, which offered a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic, off a sharp in-hand victory in the Grade 3 Cornhusker on July 2 at Prairie Meadows.

Knicks Go captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park.

Piloted by Joel Rosario on Saturday, Knicks Go led the field at every point of call and drew away in the stretch to a 4 ½-length win, garnering a 111 Beyer Speed Figure.

Cox said he has not yet made plans for the next start for his talented son of Paynter, but he would like to race him once before the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 6 at Del Mar.

“We'll let the dust settle, but my thoughts would be to give him a race five to six weeks out [from the Breeders' Cup Classic],” Cox said. “I haven't really dug into it yet, the biggest thing is how he came out of yesterday's race. It would be nice to get a race into him between now and then, but where that might be I don't know.

“I was really pleased with how he looked this morning,” Cox added. “He ate up well, so everything is really positive.”

Knicks Go made his first start for Cox in February 2020 with an allowance optional claiming triumph at Oaklawn Park. Following an eight-month hiatus, Knicks Go burst back onto the scene with a Keeneland allowance optional claiming score ahead of a victory in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at the Lexington oval.

Cox said Knicks Go has taken big leaps forward in his 2021 campaign.

“He was a very good horse last year and he's a better horse now,” Cox said. “Last year, he was able to win the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile against a great group of horses. He had one prep going into that about five weeks out. This year, he's been able to race throughout the winter and rebounded well. He's had three races this summer, so he's been campaigned with more foundation this year, so I just have to think he's a better horse. He's a more accomplished horse and built a nice foundation.”

Boasting a record of 22-8-3-1, Knicks Go has lifetime earnings of $5,368,995.

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Andy Beyer Joins TDN Writers’ Room

As the Breeders’ Cup draws nearer, legendary author, columnist, figuremaker and handicapper Andy Beyer joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland this week. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Beyer discussed the future of playing the horses, what his action looks like these days and the evolution of speed figures over the years.

Asked about his early Breeders’ Cup opinions, Beyer understandably said he’s against the strong on hype, weak on numbers Princess Noor (Not This Time), who figures to be among the favorites in the Juvenile Fillies.

“The commentators on TV were just riding the Beyer Speed Figures, like, ‘How can this great horse only be getting figures in the 70’s?'” he said. “Todd Schrupp on TVG mentioned her in the same breath with Ruffian, which to me is sacrilege. But the fact is when I look at all of her races, the figures are solid as a rock. When she won her last race [the Chandelier] at Santa Anita, there was a really weak group of male 2-year-olds [in that day’s GI American Pharoah S.] going the same distance. You have a direct line of comparison and her time was just very mediocre, as with her other races, so I always believed in standing by right figures when I can and I’ll be betting against her in the Breeders’ Cup.”

On how his betting habits compare to a younger version of himself, Beyer said, “I bet much less. When I developed the figures I was just about the only person who had speed figures. I had as great an edge as a gambler could want from the mid-70s to the mid-90s. Now that speed figures are common currency and everybody has access to them, I don’t have that. I made hay while the sun shined, in those golden years. Plus there are elements of the modern game that I just don’t like. At the top of the list is the Rainbow 6 and those other copycat jackpot bets. There was nothing that got my juices flowing like a big carryover in a traditional Pick 6. But the jackpot bets are, to me, a sucker bet to fleece the average player. So I’m down on that.”

A longtime critic of drugs in racing and the lax regulatory approach that allows cheaters to prosper, Beyer admitted that he didn’t realize the depths of the alleged criminality that were revealed in this March’s FBI indictments of Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro.

“In all the years that I would write about super-trainers and guys whose performance seemed to defy logic, I had the notion that, the industry is just looking the other way, stewards aren’t cracking down,” he said. “We learned from the case earlier this year that it’s not as simple as that. This was a major criminal conspiracy, with people manufacturing sophisticated drugs, hiding the presence of those drugs in a sophisticated way. It took a year-long investigation by the FBI with wiretaps to nail the cheaters. This was not just a sneaky trainer and a sneaky vet, it was something that needed a major law enforcement effort. So I think the only answer to this problem is to bring in high-powered investigators. Within the industry itself, it wasn’t negligence, we just didn’t have the tools to keep the cheaters at bay.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers discussed the recent string of medication positives coming out of the Bob Baffert barn and what they mean, then gave their first-blush impressions of the Breeders’ Cup pre-entries. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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‘Spectacular Individual’ Jackie’s Warrior Exits Champagne In Good Shape

Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior earned a career-best 100 Beyer for his second Grade 1 victory in the $250,000 Champagne at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.

Piloted by Joel Rosario, the juvenile son of Maclean's Music parlayed his winning effort in the Grade 1 Hopeful into another Grade 1-victory, when displaying his usual frontrunning style early on and extending his advantage throughout the stretch run, sailing home a 5 1/2-length winner.

“We're just celebrating our win,” said Asmussen's Belmont Park-based assistant trainer Toby Sheets. “The horse came out of the race in good shape and we'll go from there. He's a spectacular individual.”

Sheets said Midnight Bourbon, who ran third in the Champagne, also emerged from the race in good shape. The son of Tiznow picked up his second placing in a graded stakes event. He was previously second in the Grade 3 Iroquois on September 5 at Churchill Downs.

“I was very happy with him. He ran his race,” Sheets said.

Jackie's Warrior, now unbeaten in four lifetime starts, earned an automatic entry into the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile after winning the Champagne, which is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event. He will likely arrive as one of the favorites for the 1 1/16-mile event on November 6 at Keeneland, in attempt to give Asmussen his eighth triumph in a Breeders' Cup race.

Bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, Jackie's Warrior was purchased for $95,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

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Does Cezanne Justify The Hype Of Previous Baffert Stars?

Cezanne, who topped Fasig-Tipton's sale of two-year-olds in training last year at Gulfstream Park when he fetched a final bid of $3.65 million, kicked off his racing career with a 2 1/2-length victory in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race last Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Cezanne was sent away as an overwhelming 2-5 favorite and posted a final time of 1:16.13. Leading jockey Flavian Prat rode the Kentucky-bred three-year-old colt by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Bob Baffert trains Cezanne for owners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Michael B. Smith and St. Elias Stable.

“Cezanne was credited with a 90 Beyer Speed Figure,” said Jon White, Santa Anita's longtime morning-line oddsmaker. “Considering he was making his career debut as a three-year-old, I wondered how a 90 Beyer stacks up against the debut Beyers for Arrogate, West Coast and Justify. They also debuted at the age of three for Baffert.

And they all went on to be voted an Eclipse Award that same year as the champion three-year-old male (Arrogate in 2016, West Coast in 2017 and Justify in 2018).

“Because there had been so much hype for Cezanne's debut, some probably expected to see him win by a bigger margin and get a higher Beyer. But a 90 is a lot higher than Arrogate's 80 Beyer in his career debut. And keep in mind that after Arrogate's debut, what he did later that year was extraordinary.”

In the first start of Arrogate's career, he finished third in a six-furlong maiden race at Los Alamitos on April 17, 2016. Later in the year he won the Travers by 13 ½ lengths while breaking Saratoga's track record for 1 ¼ miles.

In his final start at three, Arrogate won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita beating California Chrome and other older horses.

“What Cezanne's 90 Beyer is comparable to was West Coast's figure in the first start of his career when he got a 91,” White noted.

West Coast began his career by finishing second in a one-mile maiden race at Santa Anita on Feb. 18, 2017. Later in the year he won the Travers and the Pennsylvania Derby before finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar.

“Justify's debut Beyer went through the roof, a 104, when he won his first race by a huge margin,” White said. “That really was some performance. Justify showed everyone right from the start what an outstanding equine athlete he was.”

Bursting on the scene early in 2018 at Santa Anita, Justify registered a 9 1/2-length victory in a seven-furlong maiden race on Feb. 18. He subsequently won the Santa Anita Derby and swept the Triple Crown, then was retired after the Belmont Stakes. Justify won all six of his career starts.

“Cezanne raced a bit greenly in his first start and should improve with that race under his belt,” White said. “I also think there's a good chance that he will do well when he goes farther. Baffert has said that he believes Cezanne has the potential to have a big second half of the year like Arrogate and West Coast.

“So it's sure going to be interesting to see what Cezanne can do during the rest of the year.”

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