Knicks Go Yearling Brings Moore Full Circle at Keeneland January

Sabrina Moore's GreenMount Farm will offer its final consignment during next week's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale and, fittingly, the consignment's three offerings kick off with a short yearling from the first crop of the champion who put the Maryland farm on the map, Knicks Go.

“It's a little bittersweet that this is going to be my last consignment,” Moore admitted. “But it will kind of come full circle, hopefully.”

Moore and her mother Angie co-bred Knicks Go and sold the son of the late Paynter for $40,000 as a weanling at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. He sold to the Korea Racing Authority for $87,000 at the following year's Keeneland September sale.

Knicks Go went on to win five Grade I races, including the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and GI Whitney S., as well as the 2018 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The gray was named Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2021 and retired to Taylor Made Farm the following year.

Knicks Go had 18 weanlings sell last November for an average of $64,611 and a high of $220,000. With the turning of the year, the stallion's first yearlings sell at Keeneland next week and Moore's GreenMount will offer the first of the group as hip 69 during the auction's first session Monday.

“He has this tenacious attitude,” Moore said when asked if she saw similarities between the yearling and his famous father. “He is a little hard-headed, but in the best way possible. He definitely has his own opinions and he is a very confident colt. I foaled him at my farm [in Maryland] and he came out brown and I thought, 'oh no!' I just had this dream in my head that I would get this little gray Knicks Go baby. But other than that, body style, they are pretty similar. He is a stout individual and he carries good body.”

After foaling the colt in Maryland, Moore picked up roots and moved to Kentucky last fall.

“We moved him down here and I can't believe how much he's progressed in the last two months,” Moore said. “He is really coming on. If a pinhooker picks him up, I think they will be thrilled with him in the next few months. He is really headed in the right direction.”

Of her move to Kentucky, Moore admitted it was a transition that just made sense.

“It had been on my radar the last few years,” Moore said. “I bred a really nice horse, but at the end of the day, that didn't get me far, at least financially. The Maryland circuit was really struggling and I had a lot of clients who were really struggling. It felt like it was going in a direction that I didn't think was going to benefit me long term. So I just had to try to think about my future and where I wanted to be. And owning a farm in a regional market was just not going to do it.”

The decision to make the move to Kentucky was made easier when some Maryland clients, Steve and Denise Smith, encouraged her to join them as their farm manager.

“They just bought a really nice farm,” Moore said. “It's the old Fort Blackburn Farm on Old Frankfurt Pike. They were looking for a manager and I was looking for a job. We've had this relationship for a long time, so I was really comfortable. I was scared to come down here and get lost in the mix, but it's been a really smooth transition. It's been great.”

Now renamed Mesingw Farm, the operation is home to some 40 horses, as well as a racing stable of some 20 horses in training. Among the stable, the Smiths are co-owners of graded stakes winner Danse Macabre (Army Mule), who is trained by Kelsey Danner.

“[Smith] is getting close to retiring and this is his passion and he's always had his eye on doing this,” Moore said. “They aim to keep the fillies and sell the colts. But if they bring them through the ring and it's not what he wants, then he will race them, too. He is aiming to try to build a really nice broodmare band.”

As for Moore, she's settling into a more relaxed way of life.

“I thought I wanted an office job for a while–I didn't realize how much I would miss working with horses,” Moore said. “I was so burned out. It was so hard to find help in Maryland. I had 50 horses for the last year and a half and it was me and one other girl and sometimes another part-time person. It was unrealistic and exhausting.”

Of her final GreenMount consignment, Moore said, “I will miss it, but I am a little relieved to be done with it and to focus on my current job right now full force. And go on from there.”

Moore retained one broodmare, a half-sister to Knicks Go, and she is looking forward to seeing what the champion's first offspring can do on the racetrack.

“They are falling into the hands of a lot of really nice professionals,” she said of the stallion's first crop. “It will be really exciting to watch them develop and hopefully they go on and do big things.”

The Keeneland January sale will be held next Monday through Thursday with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.

The post Knicks Go Yearling Brings Moore Full Circle at Keeneland January appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Always A Courageous Fighter, WinStar Stallion Paynter Euthanized

WinStar's Grade I-winning millionaire Paynter, whose story of perseverance captivated the racing world in 2012, had to be euthanized on Friday, Nov. 10, due to lameness, the farm said in a release Friday morning.

The 2009 son of Awesome Again captured the 2012 GI Haskell Invitational S. and finished a close second in that year's GI Belmont S. en route to career earnings of $1,101,924 for owner Zayat Stables and trainer Bob Baffert.

After nearly wiring the field in the 2012 GI Belmont S. and winning the GI Haskell Invitational, Paynter developed a fever and was subsequently found to be suffering from colitis. His condition at the time required a lengthy hospital stay, and his life-threatening medical crisis was chronicled on social media under the hashtag #PowerUpPaynter. His remarkable bravery, along with the exceptional veterinary care he received, led to a full recovery. As a result, racing enthusiasts chose to award Paynter the 2012 Vox Populi Award and acknowledged his courageous journey as the NTRA's “Moment of the Year.”

Following his recovery, Paynter rejoined Baffert's barn in 2013 and the 4-year-old capped off his improbable comeback with a memorable 4 1/2-length win at Hollywood Park in June. He also went on to finish second in the GI Awesome Again S. and the GII San Diego H. before retiring to WinStar Farm following an unplaced effort in that year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Paynter | WinStar Farm

As a stallion, Paynter successfully passed on his unique blend of talent and courageousness. In 2021, he was a Top 10 General Sire, led by his chief earner and Horse of the Year Knicks Go, who bankrolled $9,258,135 in his stellar racing career. Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male, Knicks Go numbers among his victories the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, the 2021 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., the 2021 GI Whitney S., and the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He was also a Grade I winner at 2-years-old when he got his picture taken in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland.

Paynter is also the sire of multiple stakes winners Miss Leslie, an earner of $873,530, and Harpers First Ride, an earner of $699,664. This year, Paynter is represented by MSW Hybrid Eclipse, and SW Misty Mauve, SW Diamond Dust, and SW C R Insta Gator. All told, Paynter has sired 49 black-type horses, 24 black-type winners, and has progeny earnings of $39,281,733. His runners have won on all surfaces from five furlongs to 1 ½ miles.

A $325,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September Sale in 2010, Paynter was produced from Tizso (Cee's Tizzy), a full sister to Tiznow, a two-time GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, Horse of the Year and a leading sire during his stallion career. Paynter was bred in Kentucky by Diamond A Racing Corp.

The post Always A Courageous Fighter, WinStar Stallion Paynter Euthanized appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Charles Town Jockey Fined A Grand For Deep-Stretch Gaffe

Jockey Carlos Eduardo Lopez, currently third in earnings and fourth in wins at Charles Town Races this year, was fined $1,000 by the track's stewards for losing a win at the wire after his mount was clear by five lengths at the sixteenth pole and he apparently thought he could coast to victory without additional effort.

“Jockey Lopez eased his mount, Stylish Paint, coming to the wire in the ninth race on Saturday, Apr. 8, 2023, causing his horse to get beat on the wire,” stated the Apr. 14 stewards' ruling. It was unclear at deadline for this story if Lopez would be appealing the fine.

Lopez, 32, knows Stylish Paint well, having ridden the 6-year-old Paynter mare for owner/trainer Ronney Brown in nine of her last eleven races dating back over a year, a span during which he twice won aboard her by narrow margins of a nose and a head.

But he ended up on the wrong end of the photo finish in the ninth and final race Apr. 8, a $5,000 claimer over seven furlongs that attracted a $53,250 win pool and was the concluding leg of double, pick three, pick four and pick five pools.

After pressing the pacemaker into submission, the 3-1 Stylish Paint took over with a half-furlong to go. The 3-2 favorite, China Cat (Justin Phillip), was gaining under Andre Ramgeet, but was seemingly left with too much work to do to win.

Lopez chose to hand-ride Stylish Paint after making the lead, then geared her down as the line loomed. But Ramgeet continued driving with China Cat, apparently catching his rival unaware at the finish.

“Oh, it got very close! Carlos Lopez thought he had it won on Stylish Paint, and it got very tight on the wire!” announcer Paul Espinosa, Jr., exclaimed in his race call.

The Equibase chart stated that Stylish Paint “dueled for the nod nearing mid-stretch and drew briefly clear, was allowed to relax in late yards and was nipped under the wire.”

The post Charles Town Jockey Fined A Grand For Deep-Stretch Gaffe appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Must Be the Money Runs To His Odds After Poor Beginning For Paul McGee

Hopes were high when Must Be the Money (Paynter) made his first start Wednesday for trainer Paul McGee. The betting public agreed, pushing the bay colt down into the 3-2 favorite's slot as the field loaded into the gate at Churchill Downs. But, when the latches sprung open and the field came away, Must Be the Money was caught flat-footed and quickly found himself in chase mode at the back of the pack. Able to weave his way through the field to be an outside fifth at the top of the stretch, he rallied widest of all and, despite trying to lug in down the lane, powered past the leading pair in the final sixteenth for the clear victory.

Speaking to Paul Lo Duca after the race, winning trainer Paul McGee admitted, “Oh certainly [I was nervous] (referencing the break). He's been breezing from the gate exceptionally well so it really threw me for a loop when he got away like that. It was a horrible start but he sure did make up for it late in the race.”

A bay son of GI TVG.com Haskell S. winner Paynter, Must Be the Money races for owner Silverton Hill LLC and is the first winner and second foal out of the Congrats mare Spider Walkin, herself a half-sister to GSP Bizwhacks (Fed Biz). Just a $50,000 KEESEP yearling last year, he's now more than earned back his purchase price in just his first start.

“Being by Paynter, he should stretch out,” McGee continued. “And we're hoping for good things to come.”

In a message to the TDN, McGee confirmed Must Be the Money's next step.

“Likely an allowance race at Keeneland or the Churchill November meet. [We'll] stretch him out.”

The post Must Be the Money Runs To His Odds After Poor Beginning For Paul McGee appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights