HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – To say Patrick Biancone has ambitious plans for Layabout would be an understatement.  “That horse, if he stays sound and everything is good, not in 2026 but in 2027, he can win the Gold Cup in Ascot,” Biancone said. “You need to let them age. He’s just a fantastic horse.”  Saturday, at Gulfstream Park, Layabout showed fantastic speed and stamina in winning the Grade 3, $225,000 William L. McKnight Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over the late running Padiddle. It was a neck back to Balnikhov in third.  Layabout, according to Biancone, is “scared of other everything.” Toward that end, Biancone equips Layabout with mesh goggles that look limit what he can see. They’re called pacifiers, Biancone said “because they pacify the horses.”  :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  According to Andie Biancone, Patrick’s daughter, in a report on FanDuel TV, a blinker was added to Layabout’s right side. There was no indication of a blinker noted in the program.  For the McKnight, Layabout’s first try at 1 1/2 miles, Biancone said he instructed jockey David Egan to put Layabout on the lead. In order to attain that position, Layabout had to run fractions of 22.97 seconds for a quarter and 47.85, pretty quick for a 1 1/2-mile race.  Entering the clubhouse turn, Act a Fool confronted Layabout and the two ran together until the quarter pole, completing 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.46 (93 Beyer Speed Figure).  Turning into the lane, Act a Fool stopped, Layabout didn’t, and with Egan urging him through the stretch, Layabout got his final quarter in 23.81 seconds to complete the 1 1/2 miles in 2:25.27 over firm ground. Layabout, a 4-year-old son of Laoban owned by Kevin Doyle, returned $14 to win.  “I said to David, ‘Ride him like we’re sure that he’ll stay',” Biancone said. “Don’t try to finesse or whatever; take the lead and make the other horses run.  “He’s much better when he’s in front,” Biancone added. “That’s why he wears those goggles, he’s scared of other horses.”   Egan, riding Layabout for the first time, said “thankfully, he wasn’t scared of me.”  Egan said he had to go fast early to keep Layabout on the front end but halfway through the race “I was able to fill him up as much as I could,” Egan said. “He’s a horse with a lot of stamina and had a nice kick at the bottom of the lane, didn’t he?”  Biancone said he would look to keep Layabout at longer distances and will point him to the Grade 2, $200,000 Mac Diarmida going 1 3/8 miles on Feb. 28.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.