Knicks Go

Though yielding to few other Englishmen in stubbornly championing the merits of the speed-carrying dirt horse, I must admit that I have been somewhat less voluble over the past week. After so much anticipation, it felt like there were just too many Breeders' Cup races decided within strides of leaving the gate. Obviously track surface and configuration can often be a factor, but perhaps the proliferation of methods introduced from Quarter Horse training has also contributed to the times when dirt racing can appear lacking in subtlety. The GI Distaff,...

On the heels of his front-running, 2 3/4-length defeat of Medina Spirit (Protonico) in the Nov. 6 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) has been assigned a rating of 128 and sits atop the latest edition of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR). With his victory in the $6-million centerpiece of Breeders' Cup weekend, the 5-year-old improved on his previous best ranking of 124. Knicks Go ranks one point higher than the trio of G1 Investec Derby/G1 King George & Queen...

All samples collected from 2021 Breeders' Cup horses have been cleared by the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. All horses competing in Breeders' Cup races this past weekend at Del Mar were tested for TCO2 levels in blood. Post-race testing was performed for prohibited drugs on the first four finishers in all Breeders' Cup races and any additional random horses selected by the stewards consistent with California Horse Racing Board protocol. Post-race testing was done on both blood and urine samples. The...

Knicks Go (Paynter), who capped what is likely to be a Horse of the Year campaign with a front-running victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6, will enter stud at Taylor Made Stallions in 2022 for an introductory fee of $30,000, the farm announced Wednesday. The Maryland-bred, owned by the Korea Racing Authority and trained by Brad Cox, finished his 5-year-old season on four-race winning streak and won five of his seven starts overall, including the prestigious GI Whitney S. at Saratoga by 4...

An early estimate of funds raised during the New Vocations Breeders' Cup Pledge totals more than $140,000. A record eight horses with pledging connections, including GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter), won their championship races over the two-day Breeders' Cup event. Additional pledges are still coming in and final donations are still being tallied. "It was truly amazing to have eight pledged contenders win this year," said Anna Ford, New Vocations Thoroughbred Program Director. "We were thrilled with the number of owners and trainers who joined the Pledge...

Korea Racing Association's Knicks Go (Paynter), fresh off an emphatic victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Saturday, could cap his career in the Jan. 29 GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Sunday. "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...

DEL MAR, CA - On paper, the scratched-down field of eight for Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic appeared to have more than its share of speed to keep 5-2 morning-line favorite Knicks Go (Paynter) company on the front end in his first attempt at 1 1/4 miles. It didn't. With the sunset providing a magnificent backdrop as the octet left Del Mar's 1 1/4-mile chute, the stunning gray, off as the co-second choice at 3-1, broke like a shot beneath Joel Rosario from post four and quickly was clear...

Now this, we can all agree, is just what a GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic should look like. Three of the first four in the Derby, albeit not the one that may ultimately be credited as winner. And besides resolving the questions left open by that processional race at Churchill, they must also pick up the gauntlet thrown down by an older horse whose plain running style should leave no stone of merit unturned. A race, in other words, commensurate with the biggest prize of the American Turf, with the...

DEL MAR, CA - Sunny skies, ideal conditions and two days of world-class Thoroughbred racing with a spectacular backdrop in Southern California. Welcome to the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar! The stunning seaside track plays Breeders' Cup host for the second time and first since 2017. 'Future Stars Friday' includes a highly anticipated clash of unbeaten 'TDN Rising Stars' Jack Christopher (Munnings) and $1.5-million OBS April topper Corniche (Quality Road) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Fellow 'Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) will also put her...

The TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland produced its third annual comprehensive Breeders' Cup preview show Wednesday, analyzing and handicapping all 14 World Championships races in depth, and welcomed trainer Wesley Ward later as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss his five combined Breeders' Cup starters in the GI Turf Sprint and GII Juvenile Turf Sprint and future goals for his barn. Asked whether he's happy with the niche he's carved out for himself as mainly an elite 2-year-old and turf sprint trainer or if he has...

DEL MAR, CA - With no sign of the sun under a dense cloud cover at daybreak, champion Essential Quality (Tapit) set the stage for this weekend's 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships jogging the wrong way along the outer rail on a cool and comfortable Tuesday morning at Del Mar. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner is the second choice on the morning-line at 3-1 for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic trailing only his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Knicks Go (Paynter) at 5-2. More on the latter gray in a...

When Knicks Go (Paynter) arrived in Brad Cox's barn late in 2019 the trainer didn't know what to expect. The Maryland-bred had won the 2019 GI Breeders' Futurity and was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in his next start. But his recent form for trainer Ben Colebrook had not been good. He had lost 10 straight and finished in the money only three times during that span. There was even talk of retiring him. Some two years later, Knicks Go is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the GI...