DRF Breeding Standout: Maiden Third Knight scores at Belmont

St. Elias Stable’s Third Knight rallied stoutly from off of the pace under Junior Alvarado to prevail in a blanket finish Sunday at Belmont Park, scoring his first win in his third career start.

The 3-year-old Cryptoclearance colt won by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile maiden event, covering the distance in 1:44.28 on a sloppy, sealed track and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 83. Trained by Bill Mott, Third Knight had finished second in his previous two starts at Aqueduct earlier this year.

Bred in Kentucky by Nick and Debbie Sibilio, Third Knight was a $30,000 Keeneland September yearling sale purchase by St. Elias Stable’s partner West Point Thoroughbreds. He is out of the stakes-winning Yukon mare Truly Needy, who has produced nine winners from 12 foals to race, including multiple Grade 3 winner Truly a Judge and stakes-placed winners Julie Truly and Truly Quiet.

Other notable family members include Grade 1-winning sprinter Cost of Freedom, multiple stakes winners Top of Our Game and Bench the Judge, and stakes winner In True Form.

Third Knight is from the final crop of four-time Grade 1 winner and $3 million earner Cryptoclearance, who stood at Margaux Farm in Midway, Ky., for the majority of his stud career. He died in September 2009 at age 25.