Masqueparade begins another comeback in Knicks Go Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Even after a nine-month layoff, conditions seem right for a big run from Masqueparade as the talented 5-year-old returns to action Saturday in the $175,000 Knicks Go at Churchill Downs.

“His record at Churchill is really good, and he shows up and runs well off the bench,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said of Masqueparade, one of 12 older horses in the Knicks Go. “He’s training very well, and we wouldn’t have entered him if he wasn’t. It should be a good spot for him.”

The one-mile Knicks Go, the sixth of 14 races on the huge Kentucky Derby card, which starts at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, is restricted to horses who have not won a graded stakes since Jan. 1, 2022. As a 3-year-old of 2021, Masqueparade won a Derby Day allowance and the Grade 3 Ohio Derby with Beyer Speed Figures in the high 90s, and only a “minor problem with his back end” has kept him from racing more than five times since then, said Stall.

Masqueparade, 2 for 3 at Churchill, is owned by a group of New Orleans friends known as FTGGG Racing (For The Greater Glory of God). He’ll have Joel Rosario aboard when he breaks from post 2 in his first one-turn race since his December 2020 debut.

“We’re actually looking forward to running him around the one turn because there’s never really been the right opportunity to do it,” said Stall.

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The Knicks Go is named for the 2021 Horse of the Year, trained by Brad Cox, who has a top contender here in Zozos, the 10th-place finisher in the Derby last year. Zozos (post 6, Florent Geroux) has been away since earning a career-best 100 Beyer in winning a third-level allowance at Fair Grounds in early March.

Baby Yoda (post 3, Javier Castellano) also will draw his share of tote action when returning from a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Kelso at Aqueduct more than six months ago. The 114 Beyer earned by the Florida-bred gelding in a September 2021 allowance win at Saratoga continues to jump off his past performances.

Three Technique (post 7, Rafael Bejarano) earned a 91 when posting a 36-1 stunner for Bejarano and trainer Jason Cook in the inaugural Knicks Go last Derby Day. He has gone winless in his five starts since. The 6-year-old horse had a useful tuneup when fourth in a Keeneland allowance four weeks ago.

Outside considerations include Kneedeepinsnow (post 9, Irad Ortiz Jr.), the runner-up to Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga last summer; Noble Drama (post 10, Juan Hernandez), a hard-hitting Florida-bred with more than $800,000 in the bank; and Caddo River (post 12, Tyler Gaffalione), runner-up in the Oaklawn Mile five weeks ago in his second start for his new trainer, D. Wayne Lukas.

As with all Churchill races, the Knicks Go purse includes sizable bonuses available only to eligible Kentucky-breds.

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