Knockemdown named champion of the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover

Knockemdown, a son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, was the champion of the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover following several days of competition at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington that awarded a total of $100,000 in prize money.

A busy run of competition kicked off with over 300 horses competing in preliminary competition for 10 disciplines at the Makeover on Oct. 11-12. The top five from each discipline moved on to a final round on Oct. 14, with those discipline winners then ranked by a judging panel to determine an overall champion. The Makeover was running concurrently with championship events for The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program Championships, with an additional several hundred off-track Thoroughbreds competing in dressage and western disciplines from Oct. 12-14.

Knockemdown, a 4-year-old American Pharoah gelding, is unraced but was in race training, posting his last timed work on Dec. 27, 2021 at Turfway Park for Wesley Ward and e5 Racing. That timeframe made him eligible for the Makeover, which puts horses on even footing by requiring a race or a timed work in a certain timeframe, and not allowing them to begin re-training before December of the prior year.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Knockemdown is now trained by Alison O’Dwyer, who has won the dressage discipline at the Makeover multiple times. The pair won both the preliminary and finale rounds before being ranked on top by the championship judging panel.

“I want to thank Kristen Goncharoff at e5 Racing Thoroughbreds for making the phone call, and Bob [Edwards], the leader of e5, who was looking to rehome this horse,” O’Dwyer, whose husband is trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer, said. “Wesley Ward had him in training at Turfway and when he didn’t think much of him, they decided to cut his career short as a 2-year-old. I’m thankful for the friendships that I’ve made that trusted me with this horse – Kristen loved this horse as a foal and there was something about his personality and his eye that really spoke to her.

“It felt like putting a shoe that’s the perfect size,” O’Dwyer added of her first ride on the gelding. “It was a Cinderella moment from the first ride. He’s the right size for me, he’s the right brain – he’s the right everything. It is extra special that he is appreciated here as much as I appreciate him myself.”

In addition to the overall championship, the 10 divisional winners also competed for a People’s Choice Award, determined by a text-in popular vote. The winner was a familiar name, in Grade 1-winning multimillionaire Arklow. Trained by Gina Gans, he won both the preliminary and finale rounds in the field hunter discipline – competing in the finale exactly one year to the day of his final start.

“He’s just so fun,” Gans said. “When we had the big gallop up the hill [in the mock hunt], he really took a big hold of me, but when we got to the top of the hill, he stopped in the check and just looked around. I think that’s really hard for a lot of Thoroughbreds to be able to turn it on and switch it off – you show him something and he gets it and he’s calm and cool. The biggest difference is the brain on him.”

Arklow, trained by Brad Cox for Donegal Racing and Joseph Bulger, won six graded stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in 2019. He bankrolled $3,025,996.

In addition to Knockemdown in dressage and Arklow in field hunters, the other discipline winners at the Makeover were Smokeonthehorizon and Jhett Jenkins in eventing; Limonata and Claudia Dollinger in show jumping; Mission Canyon and Chris Bennings in show hunters; Phlox and Buck Schott in polo; Burl and the team of Hamby’s Rockin H Ranch in the freestyle; Balboas Smile and Kaitlyn Aitken in barrel racing; Adios Dee Dee and Haley Castleberry in competitive trail; and Into Magarayquaza and Amber Jacobson in ranch work.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.