Red Knight looks to pick up where he left off in Elkhorn Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Maker has become renowned for his work with older horses such as Red Knight, the 9-year-old gelding who figures among the top contenders Saturday at Keeneland in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes.

“These older horses, they’re just like us,” Maker said with a laugh. “We don’t think we’re that old, do we? Man, I’m just 20.”

Red Knight must still think he’s 3 – or at least his 54-year-old trainer has him believing so. Bred and owned by the Trinity Farm of Tom Egan, Red Knight won the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight on the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup program at Gulfstream Park in his most recent start and has trained right along in the interim. Maker withheld him from two Gulfstream stakes in the turf-marathon niche, the March 4 Mac Diarmida and the April 1 Pan American, but that was by design, he said.

Red Knight, a New York-bred, has kept to steady work following the McKnight, with a series of 10 breezes ending Sunday when he went five furlongs in 1:01.60 at Keeneland.

“We’d been intending to bring him back in the Pan American all along, but then the owner decided he’d rather run in this race at Keeneland, and we couldn’t really do both,” said Maker. “The horse hasn’t missed a beat, and having said that, he’s run well fresh for us. I’m looking for another big effort Saturday.”

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Red Knight, with Gerardo Corrales to ride, was one of at least 10 older horses expected for the $350,000 Elkhorn, a 1 1/2-mile turf fixture that will share the Saturday spotlight with the Grade 3, $300,000 Ben Ali for older horses on the main track.

Red Knight will be trying to match Brass Hat as a rare 9-year-old to win a graded race at Keeneland. The Grade 3 Sycamore in October 2010 was the last of nine career stakes wins for Brass Hat, who raced just once more before being retired.

Meanwhile, the 1 3/16-mile Ben Ali is shaping up a good one, with Tawny Port, Pioneer of Medina, and Skippylongstocking among at least seven expected. Tawny Port, winner of the Lexington Stakes here last spring for Brad Cox, will need to improve off a pair of fifth-place finishes to challenge those other two, both of them graded winners already this year.

◗ The last three of four allowances on the Friday card make up the Keeneland Turf Pick 3. The $3-minimum wager starts with race 5 and continues with races 8 and 10.

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