Saudi World Cup | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer William Knight confirmed GSW Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) will bypass the Saudi World Cup in favor of the 10-furlong G3 Neom Turf Cup in Riyadh Feb. 25.

According to Knight, keeping the 7-year-old on the turf was the main deciding factor in settling on the gelding's next appearance.

“We have talked long and hard about this, which one to go for? I promise you it has changed daily!” said Knight. “I've spoken to a couple of the jockeys about the dirt out there and taken advice from a few people. It's a really hard one because it is such an amazing opportunity to run for that sort of money in the Saudi Cup.”

“I just feel now that the trip will really suit him. We know he goes well on the turf, just looking at the entries for both races, I think we have a better chance of being in the first three in the Neom than we would on the dirt.”

Enjoying his best season in 2022, Sir Busker concluded the year with a victory in the G2 York S. and a third behind Baaeed in the G1 Juddmonte at the same track last August. The Irish-bred finished second under Ryan Moore in the Feb. 4 Listed Tandridge S.

“Ryan will ride Sir Busker,” confirmed Knight. “Ben Curtis has done very well on him but we didn't know if he was going to be back and riding fit in time for him, he's out for a long time with a shoulder injury.”

He added, “This is why Ryan rode him at Lingfield the other day, to get a feel of him because he's never ridden him before and with a view to riding him in the Neom.”

Another factor in the decision to keep Sir Busker on the turf is his recent propensity for tardy exits from the stalls.

“He has been slowly away and though we are doing stalls work with him, if he does face the kickback on the dirt, he'll have never really encountered that,” he said. “As much as the money is very, very tempting, I think we've sided with the turf.”

He continued, “We need to address it, I purposely hadn't over the winter because I just thought it was something he had got into at the end of the season.

“His last couple of runs he was just slightly slowly away. I'm glad we ran him at Lingfield the other day, we just needed to blow the cobwebs out but you wouldn't want that to happen at the meeting in the three weeks time.”

“We're going to address it this week–we've got [stalls specialist] Craig Witheford booked [this week] to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

The post GSW Sir Busker Heads to Turf at Saudi Cup Fixture appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner and defending G1 Pegasus World Cup champ Knicks Go could cap his brilliant career in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Pegasus may turn into a showdown between two of the standouts of the 38th Breeders' Cup, Knicks Go, the likely 2021 Horse of the Year, who won the Classic by 2 ¾ lengths, and Life Is Good, who cruised to a 5 ¾ length victory in the G1 Dirt Mile.

Trainer Brad Cox said Sunday morning at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., that the Korea Racing Association star was a possibility for the Pegasus before heading off to start his stud career at Taylor Made Farm.

“If he comes out of it good and he trains well, we'll point for the Pegasus,” Cox said. “It's a good purse, it's a surface he likes and if he's doing well, there have been horses that won the Breeders' Cup and ended their careers with that, between the likes of Gun Runner and City of Light. It's always a nice race that you can pick off hopefully before going off to stud.”

Knicks Go kicked off a superb 2021 season with a 2 ¾ length gate-to-wire score in the Pegasus World Cup. He won five of seven starts during the season and has 10 wins from 24 career starts.

Spendthrift Farm's Life Is Good was knocked off the Triple Crown trail in March when a bone chip was found in his left rear ankle. The chip was removed by surgery and during his recovery he was transferred from Bob Baffert in California to Todd Pletcher in New York. Life Is Good was a narrow second in his comeback race, the seven-furlong G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and won the one-mile G2 Kelso Handicap by 5 ½ lengths at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on Sept. 25. The Dirt Mile was his return to two-turn racing and should set him up for Gulfstream's big race.

“That's what we'd spoke about prior to the race that our sort of two-race plan was the mile and then stretch him out further in the Pegasus,” Pletcher said Sunday. “He certainly ran well enough to proceed in that direction if everything goes smoothly, but we haven't really had any time to really firmly discuss our entire plans yet. I'm sure once everybody gets back to their headquarters, we'll have that conversation.”

Life is Good came into the Breeders' Cup with a big reputation and he delivered a strong performance, leading from gate to wire under Irad Ortiz, Jr. He completed the mile in 1:34.12 after opening fractions of :21.66, :44.94, and 1:08.76.

“It was everything that we were hoping for and then maybe even more,” Pletcher said. “The horse had trained spectacularly coming into the race and I felt like he was sitting on a big race. When he broke cleanly, you could tell they were going quickly and there were some other horses trying to be involved. My first concern was just, hopefully, he hadn't gone too fast, but it seemed like he was relaxed and settled. In spite of the fact that he was rolling right along, he was doing it comfortably.

“I think that's kind of what we've come to expect from him. It's one of those horses that's extremely fast, has a very high cruising speed, and the ability to continue doing it. What was even more impressive to me than the :21 and four and 44 and change and 1:08 and change, is that he essentially won geared down. Then Irad had to reach up and grab a hold of him in the middle of the turn. Galloping out, he was still full of horse. I don't think he could have been any more impressive.”

Trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday that Classic runner-up Medina Spirit is a possibility for the Pegasus World Cup. He said the primary goal is the Saudi World Cup because the colt's owner is from Saudi Arabia and that it was too early to decide whether to run at Gulfstream first.

The post Knicks Go May Target Pegasus World Cup For Final Start appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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