brad cox | Horse Racing Free Tips

Plainsman Out Duels Favored Beau Liam To Take The Ack Ack

Shortleaf Stable's Plainsman rallied from off the pace, grabbed the lead with a furlong to run and out-kicked 1-2 favorite Beau Liam to the wire to win Saturday's 29th renewal of the $300,000 Ack Ack (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs by one length.

Plainsman, a 6-year-old son of Flatter, ran one mile on a fast track in 1:33.85, which was just .07 off Pants On Fire's 2013 stakes record (1:33.78) and .59 off Fruit Ludt's 2014 track record (1:33.26).

Joel Rosario rode the winner for trainer Brad Cox, who swept the Saturday stakes at Churchill Downs. Two races earlier, Knicks Go won the G3 Lukas Classic.

For Rosario it was his fifth win on the day, which marked the 72nd time a jockey has accomplished that feat and the first since Florent Geroux won five races from nine mounts on Sept. 4, 2020. Rosario's nine mounts earned a hefty $603,170 on the day.

Atoka, with Mr Dumas in tow, led the field of nine older horses down the backstretch in the one-turn mile through fractions of :22.65, :45.21 and 1:09.15 with Plainsman sitting off the pace and in clear.

Leaving the turn after a three-wide move, Plainsman was in fifth behind the leaders and ducked inside to split Mr Dumas on the rail and Atoka on his outside. He grabbed the lead with an eighth of a mile to run and turned back favored Beau Liam, who made his stakes debut after winning his first three starts.

“I was able to sit a good trip for most of the race,” Rosario said. “I knew turning for home I'd have a decision to make whether to keep him inside or go out. I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me and the race developed well for him.”

The first prize was $178,800 and hiked Plainsman's bankroll to $729,207 with a record of 8-6-3 from 25 starts. It was his fourth career stakes win. Previously he won the 2018 G3 Discovery at age three and prevailed in the $50,000 Jim Rasmussen at Prairie Meadows and $85,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Grand earlier this year.

“This horse has been in great form this year,” Cox said. “I think two turns is probably his best distance, but today he was able to sit a good trip from off the pace at the one-turn mile. He showed a lot of adversity today and ran a good effort.”

Six of the last eight Ack Ack winners – Pants On Fire (2013), Tapiture (2015), Tom's Ready (2016), Awesome Slew (2017), Seeking the Soul (2018) and Mr. Money (2020) – used the race as a springboard to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, which is scheduled for Nov. 6 at Del Mar with a $1 million purse. Cox non-comital to Plainsman's next start.

Plainsman paid $13.60, $3.80 and $3.20 at odds of 5-1. Beau Liam, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., paid $2.60 and $2.40. Atoka was another 2 ¾ lengths back in third under Rafael Bejarano and paid $8 to show.

Rushie, South Bend, Mr Dumas, Guest Suite, Exculpatory and Mo Mosa completed the order of finish. Ebben and Aloha West were scratched.

Plainsman, out of the Street Sense mare S S Pinafore, was bred in Kentucky by Joseph Minor.

The race is named in honor of Cain Hoy Stable's 1971 Horse of the Year Ack Ack, who is enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In his only Churchill Downs appearance, Ack Ack won the 1969 Derby Trial in 1:34.40 which was a track record for one mile that has since been eclipsed.

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Knicks Go Gallops In Lukas Classic, Sets New Stakes Record In Usual Front-Running Style

Knicks Go had things all his own way once again in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Oct. 2, paving the way for a trip to this year's Breeders' Cup Classic. Jockey Joel Rosario got the speedy gray out in front early and never looked back, setting a relaxed early pace and easily throwing off closing bids from Sprawl and Independence Hall to be geared down at the wire. The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:47.85, a new stakes record and just missing the track record set in 1999 by Victory Gallop.

Independence Hall was second, followed by Shared Sense. Fractional times were :23.53, :47.27, and 1:10.90.

Brad Cox trains Knicks Go for the Korea Racing Authority, saddling him here in his third consecutive victory. Since switching from Ben Colebrook's barn in early 2020, Knicks Go has embraced an aggressive, pace-setting running style that has served him well. Earlier this year, he won the G3 Cornhusker, the G1 Whitney, and the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Cox also saddled Knicks Go for a win in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Knicks Go was bred in Maryland by Angie Moore and is by Paynter out of Outflanker mare Kosmo's Buddy. He was a $40,000 weanling at the Keeneland November Sale in 2016, where he was consigned by Bill Reightler and purchased by Northface Bloodstock. He sold at the Keeneland September Sale the following year for $87,000 from Woods Edge Farm to Korea Racing Authority.

Knicks Go was heavily favored at 1-9 and paid $2.20, $2.10, and $2.10. See the full chart here.

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Knicks Go All Alone in Final Classic Prep

Going…going… gone. Leading older horse Knicks Go (Paynter), as expected, punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a facile victory in Saturday's GIII Lukas Classic S. at Churchill Downs.

The overwhelming 1-9 favorite took his usual spot on the front end and led the field of six through very manageable fractions of :23.53 and :47.27. Joel Rosario hit the gas entering the far turn, and Knicks Go responded in spades. He passed the quarter pole as the one to catch, cornered for home in the four path and cruised down the lane to a comfortable score under very confident handling. It was four lengths back to Independence Hall (Constitution) in second.

“We're excited to get this race under our belt,” winning trainer Brad Cox said. “He's a fast horse and he's dangerous when he gets to show that speed around two turns. Joel gave him an easy trip on the front end. He seemed like he was able to take a breather and open back up around the turn. On to the Breeders' Cup.”

Rosario added, “I kept him off the rail today a little bit but he was going very easy. He's a really fast horse and he did what he needed to do. He's always been an impressive horse to ride and always been quick. Today, he did things very easily and now on to bigger things.”

Fourth as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. around a one-turn mile at Belmont June 5, the gray returned to his best form around two turns when airing in the GIII Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows in July with a gaudy 113 Beyer Speed Figure and was coming off another dominant tally in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. Aug. 7.

Knicks Go's loaded resume also includes top-level wins in the 2018 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S.

Pedigree Notes:

Knicks Go stands alone as the only Grade I winner to date for Paynter, who has four graded winners among his 19 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 GreenMount 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.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
LUKAS CLASSIC S.-GIII, $337,000, Churchill Downs, 10-2, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.85, ft.
1–KNICKS GO, 125, 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. $184,140. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 23-9-3-1, $5,553,135.
Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Independence Hall, 121, c, 4, Constitution–Kalahari Cat, by
Cape Town. ($100,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP; $200,000 RNA 2yo '19
FTFMAR). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks
Racing Stables, LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC, Kathleen & Robert
Verratti; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Michael W.
McCarthy. $79,400.
3–Shared Sense, 121, r, 4, Street Sense–Collective, by
Bernardini. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $39,700.
Margins: 4, 1HF, HD. Odds: 0.10, 10.00, 27.70.
Also Ran: Tacitus, Chess Chief, Sprawl.
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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Cox: Classic Distance ‘Is Not Going To Be An Issue’ For Essential Quality After Saturday Work

The action began early Saturday morning beneath the famed Twin Spires as several possible contenders for the Breeders' Cup World Championships recorded workouts including Lothenbach Stables' Bell's the One (four furlongs, :47), Godolphin's Essential Quality (five furlongs, :59.20) and Qatar Racing, Flurry Racing and Big Aut Farm's Shedaresthedevil (four furlongs, :50.40).

Grade 1 Travers Stakes winner Essential Quality, one of the nation's top 3-year-olds, breezed on the outside of allowance winner Colonel Bowman. The duo worked shortly after the track opened at 5:30 a.m. (all times Eastern) and began their breeze from the half-mile pole. They crossed the wire in :46.80 and completed their move around the clubhouse turn.

“Essential is the type of horse that just keeps finding more in every race,” trainer Brad Cox said. “I thought his race in the Travers was a tremendous effort to run down (Midnight Bourbon). He's a really nice horse in his own right.

“The distance in the Breeders' Cup Classic (1 ¼ miles) is not going to be an issue for him. He'll be fit and ready for the Classic. There wasn't a race in between the Travers and the Classic that made a lot of sense for him to run in. We gave him two easy half-mile works prior to (Saturday) and we'll keep tightening the screws each week.”

Essential Quality's stablemate Shedaresthedevil, the winner of the G3 Locust Grove two weeks ago, recorded her first work back since the 1 1/16-mile event. Her owners reported the multiple Grade I winner will be sold at the Fasig Tipton November Sale following the Breeders' Cup.

The speedy mare Bell's the One returned to the work tab following her narrow defeat to Sconsin in the $300,000 Open Mind. Trained by Neil Pessin, Bell's the One worked in company with recent allowance runner-up Audrey's Time. With regular rider Corey Lanerie aboard, Bell's the One started about five lengths behind her stablemate at the half-mile pole and finished even at the wire.

A total of 200 horses recorded published workouts Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Along with the Breeders' Cup contenders, Kentucky Derby fan-favorite Soup and Sandwich has returned to Louisville. Trained by Mark Casse, the G1 Florida Derby runner-up cruised five furlongs in :59.60. He is scheduled to make his first start since finishing last in the Derby in late October at Keeneland, according to assistant trainer David Carroll.

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