Red Knight has changed his ways

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Red Knight used to be a problem child. Some unruly habits in the morning led to less-than-stellar performances in the afternoon.

The 6-year-old New York-bred gelding seems to have changed his ways. And the results in the afternoon reflect that. Saturday, Red Knight could be the horse to beat in the Grade 3, $100,000 Red Smith Stakes, scheduled for 1 3/8 miles on turf at Aqueduct.

Leana Willaford, the Belmont Park assistant to Red Knight’s trainer, Bill Mott, has spent the last several summers with Red Knight and noted that maturation of the son of Pure Prize.

“We used to have to lead him back and forth from the track. He’d drop his rider all the time,” Willaford said. “He doesn’t do that anymore. His behavior has certainly improved a lot.”

So have his speed figures. Red Knight has reached triple-digits on the Beyer Speed Figure scale in his last two starts, earning a 101 running second to the Grade 1 winner Arklow in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 12 and a 100 Beyer winning the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland on Oct. 15.

Last year, Red Knight finished second to Sadler’s Joy in this race when he attempted to rally from 19 lengths back at one point. “I wouldn’t think he’d be that far back on Saturday,” Willaford said.

Red Knight drew post 10 in a field of 11

Sadler’s Joy will attempt to win the Red Smith for the second consecutive year. In 2019, he ended a 10-race losing streak by winning the Red Smith by two lengths. He has officially lost all seven of his starts since then, though he was disqualified from a victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga this summer. Since then, he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer over a boggy Saratoga turf course in August and was third in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Oct. 3.

Though he doesn’t always win, Sadler’s Joy has finished in the top three in 22 of his 33 career starts.

“He put in another good effort,” trainer Tom Albertrani said, referring to the Joe Hirsch. “The horse is always right there, he’s been so consistent. I don’t know what his plans will be after this race. Hopefully, we can find a place where he can be a stallion.”

With Javier Castellano sidelined after having undergone hip surgery on Monday, Joel Rosario has picked up the mount on Sadler’s Joy.

The top four finishers from the Sycamore are back in the Red Smith. That includes fourth-place finisher North Dakota, who was stuck inside and couldn’t get out in the stretch of that race. He was beaten two heads for second in what was his graded stakes debut.

“I was very pleased with the way he ran,” said Shug McGaughey, the trainer of North Dakota.

McGaughey also sends out Doctor Mounty, who two starts back won the Henry Clark Stakes at Laurel before running fourth in the Grade 2 Dinner Party at Pimlico.

Postulation, Ziyab and Aquaphobia, the second-, third- and seventh-place finishers from the Sycamore, also are contenders in this field.

Real Factor, Fame to Famous, Tintoretto and Changi are the expected longshots.