Knicks Go hopes to regain his mojo at two turns in Cornhusker
King Abdulaziz Racetrack in February, and Prairie Meadows in July: It’s a long way from Saudi Arabia to Altoona, Iowa, but that’s the path taken by Knicks Go, who will be favored to win the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on Friday night.
Knicks Go, Joel Rosario named to ride for the Korea Racing Authority and trainer Brad Cox, breaks from post 5 and carries top weight of 126 pounds in the 1 1/8-mile Cornhusker, a race Cox has won twice, including in 2014 with Carve, his first graded stakes score. Six others are entered – Modernist looks the most live among them – and Knicks Go concedes between six and 13 pounds.
Knicks Go raced brilliantly last fall, winning the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in style, and captured the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January, beating a modest field but showing he could carry his speed over 1 1/8 miles. In Saudi Arabia he succumbed to Charlatan after a prolonged pace battle, fading to finish fourth as Mishriff swept to victory. Knicks Go on June 5 was the 4-5 favorite in the Met Mile, his first race after the Saudi trip, but showed little resistance when confronted at the quarter pole, coming home a tame fourth.
Cox went into the Met Mile with extreme confidence but came out of it wondering if Knicks Go, whose last two starts came in one-turn races, needs two turns for his best showing.
“Just feel like I need to get him back in good form. This is not an easy race, and he’s giving some weight, but most importantly I wanted to get him back around two turns. He came out of the Met Mile great, had two good works at Churchill, and he’s acting the part. We want to see if he can move forward back around two turns since his two lesser races were at one. That’s the only thing I could see that was any different.”
Cox said he’d have given Knicks Go time following the Met Mile if he felt the horse required it, but Knicks Go didn’t act like a horse needing a break.
“There was no need to wait for him to start training good again, since he already was,” he said.
Last Judgement might or might not prove a worthy pace rival. A sharp front-running winner of the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special in his last start, he was unable to keep up with Knicks Go early in the Pegasus and faded to eighth, and all Last Judgement’s top races came when he led. He and jockey Jose Ortiz are drawn inside Knicks Go, and a speed duel would enhance Modernist’s chances.
Second in the Pimlico Special, where Last Judgement was loose on the lead, and second to him in the Challenger Stakes at Tampa earlier this year, 4-year-old Modernist probably has one more rung of improvement in him and might be best suited stalking a quick tempo. He should be a fair price Friday and gets six pounds from Knicks Go.
The Cornhusker (race 8, post time 9:12 p.m. Central) is the last of three stakes – all good races – following the Iowa Derby and the Iowa Oaks. First post for the Prairie Meadows card is 6 p.m., and you can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.