Knicks Go | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gamine Jumps Up To Fourth In NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

For the fourth consecutive week, Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go is the No. 1 ranked horse in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, while the 4-year-old filly Gamine, winner of Saratoga's Grade 1 Kettle One Ballerina Stakes, moved into fourth place.

Knicks Go, trained by Brad Cox, received 19 first-place votes and 325 points. This year, he has won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, and the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga in his most recent start on Aug. 7.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska remained in second place with six first-place votes and 307 points. Letruska won her fifth race of 2021 on Saturday, taking the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga by a half-length. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska also has won two other Grade 1 stakes in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park and the Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park.

Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality retained third place in the poll following his half-length win over Midnight Bourbon in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, who won the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in June and took Saratoga's Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes earlier this month, has 10 first-place votes and 294 points.

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine rose from seventh to fourth place with 183 points. Trained by Bob Baffert, Gamine remained unbeaten in four starts this year when she scored a 1 ¾-length triumph in the Ballerina. Last year's champion female sprinter also has 2021 wins in the Grade 3 Las Flores at Santa Anita Park, the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs, and the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs and second in the Whitney, drops one spot to fifth place. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield has 166 points.

Klaravich Stables' 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending is in sixth place with 119 points. Trained by Chad Brown, this year Domestic Spending finished in a dead heat for first in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, won the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park, and finished second in the Grade 1 Mr. D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14.

Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior defeated the previously unbeaten Life Is Good by a neck in Saturday's Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at Saratoga, and rose from 11th to seventh place in the poll with 115 points. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Jackie's Warrior won the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 1 and the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on May 1.

Shadwell Stable's 3-year-old filly Malathaat stayed in eighth place with 90 points. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Malathaat won the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 21 to go along with her two other Grade 1 scores in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and the Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State dropped three places to ninth with 69 points. Also trained by Asmussen, Silver State has four wins this year, including the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss's Hot Rod Charlie dropped one spot to 10th place with 43 points. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, was third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and finished second in the Belmont Stakes. He crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes on July 17 but was disqualified for interference and was placed seventh.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through Nov. 6.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Polls can be found on the NTRA website at: https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-august-30-2021/

Full accounting of top 10 votes by voter can be found at: https://mk0ntrauj6jy9vera.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week28-by_voter-2021.pdf

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Essential Quality Earns 107 Beyer Speed Figure In Travers Win, BC Classic Ultimate Goal

Godolphin homebred Essential Quality continued to display his excellence with a superb performance in Saturday's $1.25 million Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., picking up a fourth Grade 1 triumph.

Essential Quality, traveling in second position under meet-leading rider Luis Saez, was 3 ½ lengths off pacesetter Midnight Bourbon down the backstretch before inching his way closer to the front nearing the far turn. The pair engaged in a dramatic stretch battle, with the 2020 Champion 2-Year-Old coming out on the winning end by a neck and recording a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

Winning dramatic stretch duels in prestigious races are nothing new for Essential Quality, who won the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5 after battling with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch. He arrived at the Runhappy Travers off a half-length win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 30 at the Spa, fending off an inside rally from Keepmeinmind, who was fourth in the Travers.

Essential Quality became the first Champion 2-Year-Old to notch a Travers win since Street Sense in 2007 and joined Tiz the Law [2020], Summer Bird [2009], Birdstone [2004], Point Given [2001], Lemon Drop Kid [1999], and Thunder Gulch [1995] as horses to sweep the Belmont Stakes-Travers double. Additionally, he became the first horse since Arts and Letters in 1969 to win the Belmont, Jim Dandy, and Travers.

Trainer Brad Cox said the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic is the ultimate goal but has not yet decided whether Essential Quality will race once beforehand.

“He looked great this morning. He's in good shape,” Cox said. “[Godolphin USA President] Jimmy Bell and I spoke about that this morning, there's no pressure to make a decision right now. We'll just let the dust settle and enjoy this victory for a little bit. I think that's the right thing to do. We'll make a decision in a week or two weeks. The most important thing is watching him and how he trains.”

Through eight victories in nine lifetime starts, Essential Quality has displayed various tactics, having won from just off the pace in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland, as well as from far back in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, where he made up nine lengths to secure a victory.

“He's a versatile horse,” Cox said. “He seems to show up regardless of the pace. He's shown that he knows how to negotiate a trip and accept what's thrown his way. He knows how to overcome things.”

Cox spoke volumes of this year's 3-year-old crop and said it's a testament to Essential Quality's accomplishments.

“It's very, very good, and that's not just because we have two very good ones in Essential Quality and [Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner] Mandaloun,” Cox said. “Horses like Hot Rod Charlie, Midnight Bourbon, Jackie's Warrior, and Keepmeinmind were all good horses that played a role as 2-year-olds last year and have been able to continue on at 3. Jackie's Warrior and Essential Quality were both dual Grade 1 winners at two and three. It means a lot. Hopefully, we can keep marching forward and on to the Breeders' Cup.”

Cox has been more involved in the Spa meet this season than he has in years past, which has paid dividends to the Louisville-born conditioner. Three weeks ago, Cox saddled Knicks Go to a victory in the Grade 1 Whitney.

“I've kind of been in and out of Saratoga in years past, but this year I've been here a good bit and it's really grown on me,” Cox said. “Moving forward, I'd like to spend all of my summers here. Being here and doing well in big races, that makes you enjoy it. It's a special place. Between the Travers and the Whitney, these are great accomplishments. It's a lot of teamwork and we have a great team.

“I can see myself spending more time here in years to come,” Cox added. “It's a great place, the whole town is all about racing. It's a special place for sure.”

Essential Quality is out of the multiple-stakes placed Elusive Quality mare Delightful Quality. He is a direct descendant of the influential broodmare La Troienne.

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Cox potentially holds a strong hand for the Breeders' Cup Classic with Essential Quality and Knicks Go, who breezed for the first time since his Whitney triumph on Friday morning. The four-time Grade 1-winning son of Paynter went an easy half-mile in :49.15 over the Oklahoma training track.

Knicks Go will target the $400,000 Grade 3 Lukas Classic on October 2 at Churchill Downs as his final prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

“It was an incredible move and I was proud of him,” Cox said. “I didn't ask him to do much, but he did it the right way. We'll keep him here until the first of September and go from there.”

Cox saddled Ten Strike Racing's Whittington Park, a New York homebred, to a maiden special weight victory on Saturday at second asking. Third in his debut on August 1 at Saratoga, the son of Midnight Lute led the 6 ½-furlong race at every point of call, winning by 7 ½ lengths under Manny Franco. He registered a 69 Beyer for the win.

“We've always liked him. I had the opportunity to see him in Florida in March and he had a good physical,” Cox said. “We didn't feel that we had him quite ready to win first time, but he really got something out of it. We added the blinkers and had a couple of good moves since.”

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Trainer Brad Cox Poised To Join Elite Company With Travers Favorite Essential Quality

History abounds at Saratoga Race Course, especially when it comes to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers. The country's oldest stakes race for 3-year-olds will have its 152nd edition on Saturday in headlining a stacked card of seven graded stakes and six Grade 1 contests.

The Runhappy Travers – for sophomores contesting the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles, is slated as Race 12 on the packed 13-race card. First post is set for 11:35 a.m.

For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7 1/2 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1.

Trainer Brad Cox can join an elite group Saturday if his entrant, 4-5 morning-line favorite Essential Quality, can win the Runhappy Travers. Should Essential Quality earn a winner's circle trip tomorrow, Cox would become just the eighth trainer overall to win the Grade 1 Whitney and Travers in the same year – and just the third to do so with two different horses after Knicks Go won the Whitney by 4 1/2 lengths on Aug. 7.

The last trainer to pull off the double of the two most prestigious races of the Saratoga summer meet was Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who saddled fellow Hall of Famer Easy Goer to the sweep in 1989.

Prior to 1954, the Whitney was run at 1 1/4 miles as a weight-for-age event, and from 1957-69 it was restricted to 4-year-olds and up. Beginning in 1955 it was run at its current distance of 1 1/8 miles. Since 2020, when Improbable won, the Whitney has been restricted to 4-year-olds and up.

Other conditioners to notch both wins in the same year were MacKenzie Miller [Java Gold in 1987], John Veitch [Alydar in 1978], J. Elliott Burch [Key to the Mint, 1972] and Bert Mulholland [Eight Thirty, 1939].

Cox can join an even rarer group of trainers to win both races with two different horses.

James G. Rowe, Jr. saddled St. Brideaux to the Whitney win in 1931 and Twenty Grand to a Travers score that summer, while John M. Gaver, Sr. conditioned Swing and Sway to Whitney glory and Shut Out to Travers success in 1942.

Cox will be looking to accomplish a feat last reached 79 years ago when Essential Quality breaks from post 2 in the seven-horse field in Race 12 at 6:12 p.m. Eastern.

“When you can win Grade 1s at Saratoga, whether it's the Whitney or Travers, it's always huge to win any of them on the NYRA circuit, period,” Cox said. “To win the Travers and Whitney in the same year; we've already had a great meet to begin with, but if we can cap it off with this, it would be huge.

“It's the biggest 3-year-old race outside of the Triple Crown races, so it would be right up there with winning the Belmont, for sure.”

Essential Quality has already made an indelible mark on Cox's career, providing him his first American Classic victory with that 1 1/4-length score in the Belmont Stakes on June 5. The Godolphin homebred has won seven of his eight career starts with six graded stakes victories, including a 3-for-3 effort last year en route to winning the Eclipse Award as Champion 2-Year-Old following wins in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland.

That run helped Cox earn his first Eclipse Award as Outstanding Trainer, and the Tapit colt continued his dominance to begin his sophomore campaign, winning the Grade 3 Southwest and the Grade 2 Blue Grass before running a competitive fourth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in his lone career defeat on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Undeterred, Essential Quality showed he could handle Belmont's famed 12-furlong distance, overcoming Hot Rod Charlie's blistering fractions to collar his rival and win the Belmont Stakes, earning a personal-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure. Getting his first taste of the Saratoga main track, Essential Quality registered a half-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31 in preparation for the Runhappy Travers.

“I think he's bigger, there's more of him. He's stronger than he was leading up to the Belmont,” Cox said about Essential Quality's physical maturation. “It comes with age. He's still a young horse and still developing. I've continued to see signs of progression and that's why he's 4-5.”

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Lukas Classic Next For Knicks Go; Monomoy Girl Update

Coming off a dominant win in the GI Whitney S., Horse of the Year contender Knicks Go (Paynter) will make his next start in the Oct. 2 GIII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Thursday. Knicks Go will be taking a step back in class in the $400,000 race, but Cox has taken that route before. Knicks Go warmed up for the Whitney with a 10 1/4-length romp in the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows.

“It's a mile-and-an-eighth race and he'll be coming right out of his own stall at Churchill,” Cox said of the Lukas Classic.

Knicks Go, who has not had a published work since the Whitney, will get back to business Friday morning at Saratoga.

“He's currently at Saratoga training over the Oklahoma training track,” the trainer said. “We will breeze him [Friday morning] at 6-6:30. It will be just an easy maintenance half-mile, nothing special. We will just let him stretch his legs a little bit. He will stay in Saratoga until the second week of September and then will be off to Churchill.”

Cox also had an update on Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who rejoined his stable at Ellis Park Thursday morning. She has not started since finishing second in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 17 at Oaklawn. Afterward, it was announced that she had been experiencing some minor muscle strains and hamstring

soreness. She was sent to WinStar Farm to recuperate.

“We're just going to gradually start back with her,” Cox said. “We'll start her off [Friday] with some short gallops and gradually increase the workload, as long as she allows us to press forward with her.”

Cox is not confident that Monomoy Girl can make the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

“To be real honest, I think she's really up against it when it comes to making the Breeders' Cup,” Cox said. “We're going to let her tell us, tell us what she's able to do over the next month or so. The first thing will be getting her back on the work tab. With her being an older horse, I don't think it will take a whole lot of works to ger her fit. But, she'll tell us over the next month or two if she's going to be able to make it back or not.”

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