Knicks Go on target for Sam F. Davis Stakes
Knicks Go, the most accomplished 3-year-old on the grounds at Tampa Bay Downs, was scheduled for his first comeback breeze this weekend while continuing his training toward the Sam F. Davis Stakes next month at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.
Trainer Ben Colebrook said this week that “everything’s on schedule” with Knicks Go, the 40-1 runner-up behind Game Winner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November. A 70-1 winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in October, Knicks Go finished a disappointing 11th as a lukewarm favorite in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in late November in his final start at 2.
“He’ll probably just go a little quicker than a two-minute lick, so the clockers might not even post a time for him,” Colebrook said. “We’ve been gradually working up to this with his morning gallops. He’ll have two or three more serious works before the Sam Davis, and hopefully, we’ll be good to go.”
The Grade 3 Sam Davis, a Kentucky Derby points race (10-4-2-1), will be run Feb. 9 at 1 1/16 miles.
Meanwhile, Colebrook said he intends to skip the next race in the Gulfstream Park stakes series for 3-year-old fillies, the Feb. 2 Forward Gal, with Fancy Dress Party, who remained unbeaten in three career starts with a 5 3/4-length romp last weekend in the restricted Glitter Woman at the Miami-area track.
“We don’t need to be in any hurry with her,” said Colebrook, adding he will consider the seven-furlong Forward Gal for Frond, a debut winner Jan. 4 at Tampa.
Colebrook, who is splitting time this winter between Tampa and his Kentucky farm, said his longtime stable star Limousine Liberal is jogging and “doing good” in Kentucky and is being pointed to an April return at Keeneland. The 7-year-old gelding has earned nearly $1.8 million.
