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All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5 Featuring Whitney, Hambletonian Pays $699.25

An all-stakes cross-breed Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday paid $699.25 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The total pool was $60,003. The wager, which featured thoroughbred racing from historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., also encompassed two prestigious harness races from the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Thoroughbreds started the action when State of Rest won the $1 million Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational to capture the second leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series for 3-year-olds in Race 9 at the Spa. The Irish-bred State of Rest, trained by Joseph O'Brien and ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, topped Solider Rising by one length in the 1 3/16-mile contest on the Mellon turf course in a final time of 1:53.35. Off at 21-1, State of Rest returned $44.20 on a $2 win wager.

Monmouth Park, located in Oceanport, New Jersey, hosted the $100,000 Tyro for juveniles going five furlongs on the turf in Race 12. Her World, an Irish bred trained by Wesley Ward, romped by six lengths as the even-money favorite, paying $3.80. Under jockey Paco Lopez, Her World completed the course in :56.62 seconds.

A unique wrinkle to the Cross County Pick 5 came in the third leg when standardbreds took center stage with the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks in Race 14 at the Meadowlands. The prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies saw heavy favorite Bella Bellini win in rein to driver Dexter Dunn. The R. Nifty Norman trainee paid $3 to win in capturing the race for trotters.

Saratoga's feature, the 94th running of the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney in Race 10, saw Knicks Go surge to the front and go wire-to-wire to best the five-horse field under jockey Joel Rosario, who notched his second career Whitney victory. Trained by Brad Cox, Knicks Go won by 4 1/2 lengths as the favorite, paying $4.10, and hit the wire in the 1 1/8-mile contest in 1:47.70.

Standardbreds closed out the sequence when another favorite – Captain Corey – won the 96th running of the $1 million Hambletonian for 3-year-olds in Race 15 at the Meadowlands. Trainer and driver Ake Svanstedt led Captain Corey [$4.60] to victory in the one-mile stakes for trotters.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

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Maxfield Gets 105 Beyer Speed Figure For Second Place Finish In Whitney

Godolphin homebred Maxfield matched a career-best 105 Beyer for his runner-up effort in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

With Jose Ortiz up for trainer Brendan Walsh in the nine-furlong test, Maxfield stalked from fourth position before making a late move to complete the exacta 4 1/2-lengths back of the Brad Cox-trained winner Knicks Go.

“He ran great and we're very proud of him as always. He put in a good effort,” Walsh said. “He beat some nice horses and got beat by a very good horse. It happens.

“Brad's horse is a very good horse and when he gets alone on the lead, he's very tough to beat,” Walsh added. “He ran well and it's a little more experience for him.”

The 4-year-old Street Sense colt boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 9-7-1-1 with purse earnings in excess of $1.4 million. He entered the Whitney off consecutive Grade 2 scores at Churchill Downs in the Alysheba in April and the Stephen Foster in June.

“We'll leave him here for a while and see how he comes out of it and come up with a plan,” Walsh said.

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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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Trainer Oliver, Jockey Bejarano Celebrate Multi-Win Day At Ellis Park Saturday

Trainer Vicki Oliver and jockey Rafael Bejarano proved the stars of Saturday's first day of Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend at the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., teaming for three victories, with the rider winning four overall.

Oliver brought two 3-year-old fillies from her Keeneland base. But instead of running both Flippant and Core Values in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks, she opted to put Core Values in against boys in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby. That resulted in a nose victory over favored Royal Prince, with Flippant winning the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks two races later by a half-length over Caldee.

The trainer and jockey also teamed to take the third race, a $52,000 turf allowance sprint, with the 4-year-old filly Never Forget, who is out of the same mare (Frivolous) as Flippant. Both fillies are owned by breeder G. Watts Humphrey, the trainer's dad.

Bejarano's big day started with victory in the second race aboard Casino Star in an optional claiming $40,000 allowance race.

Oliver said it was only the second time in her career that she'd won three races on a card, the last time coming in June 19, 2006, at The Meadowlands' all-grass meet. She said it was her first time winning two stakes.

Oliver said she's hoping to run all three winning fillies in stakes at Kentucky Downs' meet in early September.

“I love Kentucky Downs. Love Ellis Park, and it's fun to be here supporting them,” she said. “I think it's fantastic they have this day. It's great for all of us who stay here and support the Kentucky circuit. It keeps us staying here. And we get a leg up to get into Kentucky Downs for that.”

Meet-leading trainer Brad Cox — who was busy winning Saratoga's Grade 1 Whitney Stakes with Knicks Go (an Ellis Park 2-year-old winner and runner-up in the Ellis Park Derby) — won the first of the stakes quartet as Shared Sense took the $65,000 Tri-State Overnight Stakes under Brian Hernandez Jr. Trainer Brendan Walsh — at Saratoga, where he was second in the Whitney with Maxfield, who trained all summer as a 2-year-old at Ellis Park — captured the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Sprint with favored Born Great, ridden by Adam Beschizza.

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