Knicks Go proceeds with Plan A in Sam F. Davis

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Ben Colebrook has a simple goal for Knicks Go this winter at Tampa Bay Downs – do enough to return home a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender. The first of two Tampa races for the speedy gray colt will come Saturday, when the Sam F. Davis anchors an outstanding Festival Preview card.

Knicks Go, with Albin Jimenez riding from post 3, will face nine other 3-year-olds in the 39th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam Davis, the only points qualifier (10-4-2-1) this weekend toward the May 4 Kentucky Derby. The 1 1/16-mile Davis comes four weeks before the March 9 Tampa Bay Derby, a points race that Colebrook also is targeting for Knicks Go.

“I’m really happy with the horse right now,” Colebrook said this week by phone from his main base in Kentucky. “Everything has fallen into place in his training.”

Knicks Go, owned by KRA Stud Farm, was alternately brilliant and disappointing during a six-race 2-year-old campaign. Following a debut win at Ellis Park, he was fifth in the Sanford and third in the Arlington-Washington Futurity, a so-so record that made him a 70-1 shot in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in October.

Not only did the Paynter colt crush the Breeders’ Futurity by 5 1/2 lengths in wire-to-wire fashion, but he followed it up with a runner-up finish at 40-1 behind divisional champion Game Winner in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Then came a regression, as Knicks Go finished 11th as a lukewarm favorite in the Kentucky Jockey Club in the Churchill slop.

“We gave him a little time after that, and he’s come back as good as ever,” Colebrook said. “We’d said if everything went perfect, we’d run in the Sam Davis, and if not, we’d just wait for the Tampa Derby. The fact he had six races last year gave us some flexibility there if we needed it.

Knicks Go shows three works for the Sam Davis, starting with a half-mile breeze on Jan. 19.

“I could tell after his first work that we were probably going to make this race,” Colebrook said. “The way he gets over the track gives me a lot of confidence. That might be a bit of an advantage.

“It really seems like he’s turned the corner from 2 to 3. He’s put on a lot of muscle and definitely filled out. I think he’s sitting on a big race. You never know until you load them in the gates, but I do think he’s ready.”

Speed has been an obvious strength for Knicks Go, and it should be interesting to see how the presence of a speedy maiden named Going for Gold just to his inside in post 2 affects the race. Going for Gold, a recent private purchase by Ron Paolucci, exits a pair of Laurel Park sprints in which he led until the final yards. Jose Bracho rides.

“I think we’re a little quicker out of there,” Paolucci said. “We don’t need the lead, but if he breaks we won’t grab up.”

Further insuring an honest pace will be Five Star General (post 7, Jose Ortiz), a Distorted Humor colt making his first start since winning an Aqueduct stakes on Nov. 22 and his first around two turns. Arnaud Delacour trains Five Star General for the same principals (Win Star Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Racing) who were ownership partners in the 2018 Triple Crown winner, Justify.

If you’re looking for a horse to close, look no farther than So Alive (post 8, Javier Castellano), whose trainer, Todd Pletcher, has won a remarkable six of the last 13 runnings of the Davis. So Alive put a terrific late kick on display when he captured his career debut last fall and has the added benefit of a race over the local surface, having won a Jan. 6 allowance at a mile and 40 yards.

The rest of the field is Counter Offer, Cave Run, Moonster, Kentucky Wildcat, Well Defined, and Still Dreaming.

Among the longer prices will be Moonster, whose owner and trainer, Calumet Farm and Dale Romans, were represented by the 128-1 runner-up Everfast in the Holy Bull last Saturday at Gulfstream.

The Davis is carded as the last of four straight stakes, and 11th of 12 races overall, on a Saturday program that starts at 12:12 p.m. Eastern. The Davis (post, 5:25) is a key link in the late multi-race wagers, most notably a pick five that starts with the Tampa Bay (race 8) and runs through the Suncoast (race 9) and the Endeavour (race 10) before ending with a $16,000 claiming turf mile (race 12).

The Davis has produced at least one starter for the Run for the Roses in 11 of the last 12 years, including Flameaway last year. Six Davis winners have proceeded to win the Tampa Bay Derby, the latest being the Pletcher-trained Destin in 2016.

Ideal weather is forecast for Saturday, with mostly sunny skies and a high of 73.