GI Breeders' Cup Classic | Horse Racing Free Tips

Whitney Next for Knicks Go, BC Classic a Possibility

With his horse's year having been rejuvenated with a powerful performance in the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H., trainer Brad Cox is ready to tackle bigger and better things with stable star Knicks Go (Paynter). Cox said Wednesday that Knicks Go will race next Aug. 7 in Saratoga's GI Whitney S., a 'Win and You're In' to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

“We always thought that the Whitney was the race we were going to point for this summer,” Cox said. “We felt it was necessary to get a run into him between the Met Mile and the Whitney. Obviously, in the Met Mile we didn't see what we wanted to see, so we thought it made sense to get a run into him.”

It's been an up-and-down year for Knicks Go, who kicked things off with a win in the Jan. 24 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. at Gulfstream. But, he wasn't the same horse in his next two starts, finishing fourth in the $20-million Saudi Cup and fourth again the GI Metropolitan H. Looking back, Cox doesn't think either race was the best fit for his horse.

“You're not going to run in a race like the Met Mile unless you think your horse is training well enough,” he said. “I felt every bit as good going into the Met Mile as I did the Breeders' Cup or the Pegasus. But with the way he ran in Saudi Arabia and in the Met Mile, I no longer have any interest in trying him around one turn any time in the near future. I'm thinking his dull effort in Saudi Arabia and in the Met Mile was due to the one turn.”

Coming back in a month after the Met, Knicks Go took a drop in class when showing up Friday in the Cornhusker, which is worth $300,000 and doesn't ordinarily attract the highest tier horses. While he may not have faced the best competition, Knicks Go could not have been any more impressive. He won by 10 1/4 lengths and earned a 113 Beyer figure, which represents the best figure run by any horse this year.

“It's always great to run in Grade I's and it's great to have horses that are Grade I horses,” Cox said. “He's a Grade I horse. But I do think a race like this one can give the horse confidence and fitness without really getting to the bottom of them. It was a nice race going a mile-and-an-eighth and I think it, being five weeks out, was a nice set up for the Whitney. A race like that can do a lot for a horse. He's a sound, happy horse and we witnessed that last Friday.”

Should Knicks Go stay on course in the Whitney, Cox and his owners will have some tough choices to make. Knicks Go won last year's Big Ass Fans GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a return to that race would appear to be in his sweet spot. But Cox has come to believe that Knicks Go can get the job done at a mile-and-a-quarter and is open to the possibility of starting Knicks Go in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, a richer more prestigious race than the Dirt Mile. He has never run in a 10-furlong race.

“With the way he ran Friday and the configuration of Del Mar, the Classic is definitely in play,” he said. “Both Breeders' Cup races are in play. At Del Mar, we think a mile-and-a-quarter is something he can handle. I think he's a horse that benefits from a shorter stretch. Keeneland has a short stretch when you run a mile there. Gulfstream has a bit of a shorter stretch. There was a shorter stretch the other night at Prairie Meadows and Del Mar doesn't have a long stretch. Those are things we've picked up on over the last year that seem to benefit him.

“He's a horse that doesn't slow down around the turns and that's where he seems to win his races, on the far turn. He can get away from other horses there. And they have to work around the turns to keep up with him. Obviously, with his running style, he saves all the ground around both turns. He's very fast and is able to establish himself early on in a race and save all the ground. He establishes the kind of lead where he is hard to run down.”

As for another big name in the Cox barn, the trainer has no firm plans for two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). She has not started since finishing second in the

GI Apple Blossom H. April 17. Afterward she came down with a case of muscle soreness and was sent to WinStar Farm to recuperate.

“She's back in training at WinStar and she is doing great,” Cox said. “There's no real time frame set so far as to when she will come back to us. But we're all very happy with the progress she has made over the last two months.”

When asked if Monomoy Girl would be ready in time for a fall prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, Cox replied: “I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but that's possible. That would be if everything goes right.”

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Turf, Dirt No Problem

The John Gosden-trained, Prince Faisal homebred Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) stole the show in Saturday's $20-million Saudi Cup. Gary King caught up with Ted Voute, racing manager to Prince Faisal, on Monday morning to reflect on the win.

GK: Prince Faisal has enjoyed incredible success in the bloodstock world over the years, which includes breeding and racing Invincible Spirit (Ire). Where does this victory rank?

TV: I think being on his home dirt, as it were, I would have to say Mishriff has made Prince Faisal a very proud man. Having named him after one of his closest friends soon after his death, and having named a horse Mishriff in the past who broke down, for Mishriff to win in front of his family in his homeland was a thrill he will never forget.

GK: Could you tell us a little bit more about Prince Faisal's breeding operation?

TV: He has 11 mares which all board with me at our farm in the village of Eydon, England.

GK: It was such a fantastic performance, beating two of America's best dirt horses in Charlatan and Knicks Go. Should we expect to see him running this summer and autumn in America?

TV: The racing programme hasn't been discussed by John Gosden and Prince Faisal yet, but I know that the G1 Juddmonte International at York, which throws up some of the best horses every year, would be dear to Prince Faisal. To add a domestic Group 1 to his CV would be the next logical step.

But I'm sure Royal Ascot's G1 Prince of Wales's S. and the G1 Eclipse at Sandown would be high on the agenda. He's in the G1 Dubai World Cup and the GI Breeders' Classic, more because I persuaded the boss to enter in case we won.

GK: So would the GI Breeders' Cup Classic now be a logical end of season goal?

TV: He has already formed an interesting CV winning at two, three and four over various distances, going and surfaces. As I have said there are no set plans, but the end of the year brings the G1 Arc, the G1 Champion S., and the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

It's a long time away and I don't know about the Prince but I would be torn between the Arc and the Classic. I would like to see him amass credentials to make him attractive as a stallion to studs in the U.S., Japan or Europe. His win on Saturday has certainly not gone unnoticed from farms in all three jurisdictions.

GK: His dam, Contradict (GB), is obviously a highly valuable part of the broodmare band now. Could you tell us about the mare, and who she has been covered by over the last few seasons?

TV: Contradict was originally in training with Sir Micheal Stoute as a 2-year-old and was placed second and third. Determined to get her to win a small race she went to Mick Channon who won at Salisbury and was fourth in a listed race.

Her first foal by Invincible Spirit (Ire), close inbreeding to Rafha (GB), was stakes winning Orbaan (GB) who was with Andre Fabre. Her second was stakes placed Momkin (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}) who Roger Charlton trained and raced in the 1351 Turf Sprint on Saturday and is now in Saudi Arabia. She is three-for-three black-type.

She went to Invincible Spirit for two years and was barren and also barren to Frankel (GB). She is currently in foal to Frankel and due at the beginning of March. She will visit Make Believe (GB) this year, and is currently at Coolmore waiting to foal.

GK: And finally, a few words about John Gosden and David Egan?

TV: For David Egan it was a life changing moment for a young talented rider. Even with his $100,000 fine for excessive [whip] use I am sure he will have enough left over to buy a nice house. From a wide draw, he kept Mishriff out of the kick back and produced him at exactly the right time, waiting for the U.S. horses to battle it out in front.

John Gosden is the best trainer in England. To train a horse in the winter months on his own is a phenomenal feat. I also sent him New Treasure (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) who was third in the Saudi Derby having bought him in the Tattersalls Horses-In-Training Sale [90,000gns from Jim Bolger's Glebe House Stables].

Mr. Gosden's staff have had all the COVID restrictions to contend with in travel, and Thady Gosden did a first-class job handling his training after his arrival where he blossomed each day he was there.

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McPeek Bucks the Trend, Wins the Preakness

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

Trainer Ken McPeek had set himself up for second guessing when he decided to run Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Preakness S.. Not only would she have to face males, the Preakness would be her ninth race of the year and Pimlico would be the ninth track she has competed at in 2020. With a start in October, she would have raced during every month on the calendar but April.

By modern standards, it has been a bruising schedule and one that few trainers would ever even consider. Most will not push their top horses, preferring a four or five-race campaign with ample time off between races. Had McPeek followed conventional wisdom, after a second-place finish in the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks, Swiss Skydiver would have “trained up” to the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Instead, McPeek picked the most difficult challenge out there, a start against males in the Preakness, where she was dismissed at 11-1.

But instead of running a tired horse, McPeek brought a battle-tested, sharp and game filly to Pimlico. In a stirring stretch drive, she outfought a GI Kentucky Derby winner in Authentic (Into Mischief) to win by a neck. It was the best race of her career, and also her trainer’s finest moment. McPeek proved that his way works, that horses don’t have to be babied to be successful.

“I do believe that if they’re doing well don’t be scared to run,” McPeek said. “We buy our racehorses to run not to just watch them train. I do think there is some over analysis, where people say, ‘Oh, no, you’re running them back too quickly.’ When I first started training it wasn’t anything to run a horse back in 10 days, two weeks. Now it’s almost as if they write you off if you do that. Four weeks is plenty of time. It’s no problem, especially if a horse is healthy. I have always believed that when you have one that is doing well you shouldn’t hesitate.”

McPeek never took the challenge of running a filly in the $1-million Preakness lightly. On paper, it looked like Swiss Skydiver might be overmatched. She had already faced males once, coming up short in the GII Blue Grass S. She finished second behind Art Collector (Bernardini), who she’d have to face again in the Preakness. And she probably wasn’t at her very best in the Oaks when beaten by long shot Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil).

But the more he thought about it, he couldn’t find a reason not to run. The other options were to face older fillies and mares in a race like the GI Spinster S., try the turf for the first time in the GI Queen Elizabeth II S., race in a GII Black-Eyed Susan S., which has a $250,000 reward or stay on the sidelines until the Breeders’ Cup. The risk of running in the Preakness was higher than it was for the other possible races, but so was the reward.

But if not for a push from his wife, Sherri, he might not have gone in the Preakness.

“I have to give some credit to my wife,” he said. “She said, ‘They’re athletes, she wants to run. Why not do this?'”

Owner Peter Callahan was also on board.

“I could have run her against older fillies or on the grass and she could have certainly won those races,” McPeek said. “But Peter Callahan and I both think big. Peter is as game as Dick Tracy and I am too. We talked about it and I told him I want to run her in the Preakness and he said go for it. Some owners might have over thought it. He just went with the flow on the whole thing all year. We’ve been rewarded, thank goodness.”

He collected his first Triple Crown victory in 2002 when winning the Belmont with Sarava, who looked hopelessly overmatched when facing War Emblem, who was shooting for a Triple Crown sweep for Bob Baffert. Sent off at 70-1, Sarava is the longest priced horse to win a Belmont S.

“I just didn’t know how good he is. You’ve got to throw them in the ring sometimes to find out,” he said after the race.

In some respects, his willingness to take chances hasn’t served him well. Owners flock to the trainers with the highest winning percentages and McPeek isn’t one of them. He is winning at a 17% rate this year, but is only a 15% trainer for his career. He says that owners need to look beyond winning percentages.

“I think trainer winning percentages are ridiculous,” he said. “I am what you could call a progression trainer. I like the first race to be a good race, the second race to be better and the third race to be the best race. If you don’t win first time out you hurt your percentage. You also have to remember how important black-type is. I could run in an allowance race or I could run in a stakes to get black-type and I will take chances in stakes. Black type is especially important with fillies. Black-type is the most important thing in the world to people who breed horses. Long-term success depends on their residual value. Worrying about my win percentage is probably about number nine down on my list of the things I worry about with each horse.”

The Preakness capped off the best two days of McPeek’s career. On Friday, he finished one-two in the GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland. Simply Ravishing (Laoban) romped and may be tough to beat in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Like Swiss Skydiver, she hardly broke the bank at the sales. She was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. That’s $15,000 more than he paid for Swiss Skydiver at the 2018 Keeneland September sale.

McPeek will have one more chance to pick the tougher of two races for Swiss Skydiver. After the win in the Preakness, an argument can be made that she belongs in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic for another chance of beating males. The safer choice would be to go in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. McPeek said Sunday that he hasn’t made his mind up yet but said he prefers the Classic distance of a mile-and-a-quarter over the Distaff distance of a mile-and-an-eighth. A Classic would win would mean a Horse of the Year title, which might not be the case if she were to win the Distaff. The gunslinger, McPeek may not be able to resist the temptation to run in the Classic.

But no matter which race she runs in, Swiss Skydiver will no doubt show up. She’s been first or second in each of her last six races while facing the best 3-year-old colts and fillies in the sport. Her trainer must be doing something right.

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