Knickerbocker Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sacred Life Swoops In Late To Take Knickerbocker At Belmont

Field Pass took the lead in the opening strides of the Grade 3 Knickerbocker and looked poised to take the field gate to wire when Sacred Life powered down the stretch to nip Field Pass at the wire at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Breaking from the rail, Field Pass took the lead at the start, moving out to a one-length advantage around the first turn and into the backstretch. Sacred Life hung out toward the back of the pack, next to last in front of only Corelli early. Around the far turn, Temple moved up on the outside to challenge Field Pass, but the leader dug in, maintaining his one-length lead as the field approached the wire.

Trapped behind horses on the rail, Jose Ortiz took advantage of an opening at the top of the stretch to move between horses and find an opening running lane. Once clear, Sacred Life poured on the speed, boldly moving down the center of the track as the wire approached, catching Field Pass in the final jumps. The final time for the 1 1/8 miles on the firm turf was 1:46.66.

Sacred Life paid $12.80, $5.40, and $4.60. Field Pass paid $7.40 and $5.30. Temple paid $6.80. Find this race's chart here.

“He's [Sacred Life] trained well. He's an honest horse. It just hasn't worked out for him in some of his races and he clicked with Jose [Ortiz] today and got a great trip. He got some pace to run into and made a late run and was able to get up at the wire. It was an exciting finish. It looked a little more fun for Jose than it did for me,” Dan Stupps, assistant to trainer Chad Brown, said after the race.

“He has no speed early on and I had to ride him from early. At the six furlongs, I started pushing on him and he was coming little by little. I knew sooner or later he would pick it up and he picked up nicely around the half-mile and then I just wanted for Rosario [Joel, aboard No. 2, Breaking the Rules] to go and I followed him,” jockey Jose Ortiz told the NYRA Press Office after the Knickerbocker. “I had a lot of room to work with [moving inside of Manny Franco aboard No. 4, L'Imperator in the stretch run] so I decided to do it. He was flying late. I just had to keep him straight.”

Bred in France by Viktor Timoshenko and Andriy Milovanov, Sacred Life is by Siyouni (FR) out of the Montjeu mare Knyazhna (IRE). He is owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso. Consigned by Quesnay, Sacred Life was sold for $55,925 to Chantilly Bloodstock Agency at the 2016 Arqana Deauville August Yearlings Sale. The G3 Knickerbocker is the 6-year-old ridgling's first win of 2021, for a lifetime record of seven wins in 21 starts and career earnings of $616,768.

The post Sacred Life Swoops In Late To Take Knickerbocker At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Pletcher Sends No Word, En Wye Cee For Knickerbocker

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle a formidable duo in En Wye Cee and No Word in Sunday's Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker, a nine-furlong inner turf test for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park.

Wertheimer and Frere's homebred No Word, a 4-year-old Silent Name colt, competed in both legs of last year's Turf Triple series, finishing third in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby Invitational and second in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby.

No Word made both of his two starts this year at Saratoga Race Course, including a wide-traveling eighth in an optional-claimer in August ahead of a game second last out in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap, contested over yielding ground on September 6.

“First start back he had a bad trip and was hung out wide the whole way,” Pletcher said. “I thought he ran much better next time, but unfortunately didn't have much of a pace to run at. He ran well in spite of that.”

Out of the A.P. Indy mare Listen A.P., No Word is a full brother to multiple graded-stakes winner Silentio.

“He's a horse we always thought had graded stake ability, so we're giving it another try,” Pletcher said.

Waterford Stable's homebred En Wye Cee, a 5-year-old son of Declaration of War, finished a prominent third in last year's Knickerbocker to close out his 2020 campaign.

The lightly-raced bay, who sports a ledger of 8-3-0-4, made his seasonal debut with a third-place finish to Knickerbocker-rival L'Imperator in a nine-furlong optional-claiming tilt on August 4 over firm footing at the Spa. He was scheduled to run in the Bernard Baruch but was scratched following an afternoon rainstorm softened the sod.

“He's a consistent horse. He got a little unlucky and had to scratch with the soft turf the other day, so hopefully the ground remains firm and he gets a chance to do his thing,” Pletcher said.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will pilot En Wye Cee from post 8, while Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will guide No Word from post 9.

Phipps Stable's homebred Breaking the Rules finished fourth as the mutuel favorite in last year's Knickerbocker.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who won back-to-back editions of the Knickerbocker with Boisterous in 2012-13, the now 6-year-old Breaking the Rules will look to make the grade while making his third start of the campaign.

Following an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park, the multiple graded-stakes placed son of War Front returned off a seven-month layoff to best Knickerbocker-rival Sacred Life in a one-mile optional-claimer contested over firm footing at the Spa.

Joel Rosario has the call from post 2.

Flying P Stable's Temple, a 5-year-old Temple City gelding, will look to go from claim-to-fame for trainer Tom Morley.

The dark bay was haltered for $80,000 out of a fifth-place finish in June at Belmont and after an off-the-board effort in the restricted Lure in August at Saratoga, Temple posted a solid one-length score in a 10-furlong optional-claiming event which garnered a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kendrick Carmouche picks up the mount from post 5.

[Story Continues Below]

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Robert V. LaPenta's L'Imperator and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso's Sacred Life.

A 4-year-old French-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor, L'Imperator launched his career in France winning two of four starts. He joined Brown last year and finished seventh in the Grade 3 Saranac last August in his lone sophomore start.

L'Imperator opened his campaign with a 1 3/4-length score in a nine-furlong optional-claiming tilt on August 4 at the Spa and finished an even third last out in the Bernard Baruch.

Sacred Life, a 6-year-old French-bred Siyouni ridgling, will look for his first win of the campaign while stepping up in distance from a pair of competitive efforts at one mile at the Spa, finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple in July and a closing second last out in an optional-claiming event on August 29.

Manny Franco will guide L'Imperator from post 4, while Sacred Life will emerge from post 3 under Jose Ortiz.

Rounding out the field are Corelli [post 6, Junior Alvarado], winner of the Grade 3 Singspiel in August at Woodbine; multiple graded stakes winner Field Pass [post 1, Dylan Davis]; and graded-stakes placed Epic Bromance [post 7, Jose Lezcano].

The Knickerbocker is slated as Race 8 on Sunday's 9-race which also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame at nine furlongs for fillies and mares; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity, a six-furlong turf test for 2-year-olds offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Pletcher Sends No Word, En Wye Cee For Knickerbocker appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Devamani Leads 1-2 Chad Brown Finish In Knickerbocker

Sanford J. Goldfarb and Samuel Abraham's Devamani previously had come within a neck and nose of notching his first graded stakes win this year. On Sunday, the French-bred broke through, overtaking pacesetter En Wye Cee in the stretch and drawing away to a two-length victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park in Elmont Park, N.Y.

Devamani, who ran second by a nose to Admiralty Pier in the G3 Tampa Bay in February and by a neck to Instilled Regard in the G2 Fort Marcy in June over the Belmont grass, fended off stablemate Olympico's late charge to complete the 1 1/8-mile journey over the yielding inner turf course in 1:51.78, giving trainer Chad Brown the exacta for the five-horse field.

Out of the gate, En Wye Cee broke sharp from post four and led the field through the opening quarter-mile in 25.66 seconds, the half in 51.13 and three-quarters in 1:15.58 with Devamani tracking in third position under jockey Joel Rosario.

Through the final turn, Devamani, who had plenty in reserve, pressed on from the outside, taking command in the final furlong and powering home to his first victory in six starts this year.

“He's a neat horse. He's a very well-bred horse. He's always been at the top of his game in his training, his looks and such,” said Brown, who took over training duties for the 6-year-old Dubawi gelding starting for the current campaign. “Obviously, he took to our program well right away and we had him running in stakes right away. He's a very useful horse and he'll be exciting to have as a 7-year-old here next year.

“This horse has a pedigree to get better when he gets older,” he added. “I'm not shy to run 6, 7 or 8-year-olds on the turf. Sometimes, they find their feet there. I'll talk to the ownership group and see, but this horse is running super. We may run him one more time [this year] or we may not. But I'm looking to run him as a 7-year-old.”

Off at 3-1, Devamani returned $8.80 on a $2 win bet. Out of the Group 1-winning Selkirk mare Daryakana, Devamani improved his career record to 5-8-5 in 25 career starts.

“He was just there for me and was able to go along early and he kept going,” Rosario said. “To be up a little closer with the slow pace, he was on his game. He always runs hard. He had been unlucky a couple of times and he got the job done today.”

Brown put blinkers on Devamani for the first time in his previous start when third in the Lure on September 7 at Saratoga and removed them for Sunday's contest.

“Joel really rode him perfect,” Brown said. “We got the position we were looking for with him. We put the blinkers on him because he was falling so far out of position in his races and it didn't really work out. He wasn't happy with them. When we took them off, what it left us with was a little sharper horse. Putting them on and taking them off, even though we took a defeat last time, might have been the final piece of the puzzle for this horse just to put him in the race a little bit.”

Fellow French-bred Olympico edged En Wye Cee by a neck for second, marking the second consecutive year he finished as the Knickerbocker runner up.

“He was second-best. The winner got a perfect trip,” said Olympico jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. “He ran a perfect race, he just got beat.”

Olympico was making just his third start of his 5-year-old campaign and posted his first overall on-the-board effort since last year's Knickerbocker.

“He was a little out of position. I thought he would be ahead of Devamani early, I was surprised they flip-flopped,” Brown said. “Irad thought he gave him a good run. Fortunately, he was able to squeak out second there.”

Breaking the Rules, the 2-1, favorite, finished fourth, with Seismic Wave completing the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Thursday with a nine-race card at Belmont with a first post of 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

The post Devamani Leads 1-2 Chad Brown Finish In Knickerbocker appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Olympico Will Try To Go One Better In Sunday’s Rescheduled Knickerbocker

After running second in last year's edition, the Chad Brown-trained Olympico will get another chance to earn a trip to the winner's circle when he competes as part of a five-horse field in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on Belmont Park's inner turf on Sunday.

The Knickerbocker was originally scheduled for the Monday, Oct. 12 holiday card but was moved to Sunday's third race at 1:28 p.m. Eastern due to inclement weather. That provided Olympico with a few days of extra rest as he makes his first appearance since running fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Lure on Sept. 7 at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables, Olympico made his 2020 debut off a nearly nine-month layoff, finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on July 26 at the Spa. That marked his first start since finishing just one length back to Lucullan in the 2019 Knickerbocker.

After arriving from his native France last year, the now 5-year-old son of Rajsaman won his North American debut by capturing the Grade 3 Fort Marcy in May 2019 over Belmont's softer turf at the Knickerbocker distance. After six straight winless starts, he will look to recapture that form, drawing post 1 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. retaining the mount.

His stablemate, Devamani, was also bred in France and stared his career there before making the cross-Atlantic trek. Since arriving in the United States in 2018, the Dubawi gelding has been competitive. With Brown taking over the training duties for his 6-year-old campaign, Devamani has finished on the board in four of his five starts, starting 2020 with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay on Feb. 8 and the Grade 2 Fort Marcy on June 6 at Belmont.

He ran third last out in the Lure and will return to Belmont for his eighth race at the track, drawing post 3 with Joel Rosario in the irons.

Juddmonte Farms' Seismic Wave will return to stakes company for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The 4-year-old Kentucky homebred ran second in a 1 1/8-mile race moved off the turf last out on August 27 at Saratoga. Before that effort on a sloppy and sealed track, the son of Tapit had run in 11 consecutive stakes contests dating to 2019, including a win in the English Channel going one mile over the Belmont turf last October and a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Poker on July 4.

“I think for his style of running, a racetrack at Belmont is going to suit him better to get the trip he needs,” said Garrett O'Rourke, the general manager of Juddmonte Farms. “It's a spot worthy of taking a shot in. He's a sound horse and a good servant. He's been a fun horse to have around. Horses like him are good to have around because they're reliable and usually perform really well.”

Seismic Wave broke his maiden at the Knickerbocker distance on turf in his third career start in February 2019 at Gulfstream Park. A stakes win could also help his value at the upcoming sale next month, O'Rourke said. Seismic Wave is 3-4-2 in 15 career starts with earnings of $362,800.

“He's entered in the Keeneland November Sale [under the WinStar consignment], so we'll see how he runs and take it from there,” O'Rourke said.

Seismic Wave will break from post 2 under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.

Phipps Stable's Breaking the Rules started his 5-year-old campaign with back-to-back wins against allowance company, besting a 10-horse field going 1 1/8 miles on June 20 at Belmont before following with a one-length score on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey moved the dark bay son of War Front back up to stakes company last out in the Lure on Sept. 7 at the Spa, where he ran fourth in his first stakes appearance since an eighth-place performance in the Grade 3 Poker in June 2019.

Breaking the Rules did not start again after the Poker for 12 months but has registered Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or greater in all three starts back, including a personal-best 101 for his July victory.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, aboard for his two wins this year, will return to ride from post 5.

Waterford Stable's En Wye Cee has only one previous stakes race out of his six total starts to his credit – fourth in the Grade 3 Discovery last November at the Big A – but enters the challenge with momentum following a six-length win against optional claimers in a race taken over the turf on August 29 at Saratoga. The Todd Pletcher trainee's only previous start on grass was a third in a blanket finish on Aug. 1 at the Spa, finishing a neck behind King Cause. After earning a 93 Beyer, Pletcher will try the 4-year-old Declaration of War colt on turf again, retaining the services of jockey Jose Ortiz from post 4.

Sunday's 10-race card will feature a 12:20 p.m. Eastern first post. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

The post Olympico Will Try To Go One Better In Sunday’s Rescheduled Knickerbocker appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post