Red Knight tops 1-2-3 sweep for Maker in McKnight
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mike Maker not only sent out the winner of the W. L. McKnight for a record fifth time in the last seven runnings, but he did so with emphasis.
Maker trains the winner, Red Knight, as well as the respective 2-3-5 finishers in a field of 11 older horses Saturday in the 55th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 McKnight over a firm Gulfstream Park turf.
“Pretty nice,” Maker said with typical brevity afterward.
Red Knight, a 9-year-old New York-bred gelding, got a terrific ride from Irad Ortiz Jr., the recently crowned Eclipse Award-winning jockey of 2022. Nicely settled in mid-pack for much of the 1 1/2-mile journey over firm going, Red Knight angled out for the final quarter-mile, edging clear in the final furlong to finish in 2:25.11. He was given a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.
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Red Knight, bred and owned by Trinity Farm, returned $8.60 as second choice. The gelding is a multiple graded winner who clearly has not lost a step, having accounted for two stakes wins from four 2022 starts, including the rich Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs. His latest triumph lifted his career bankroll to $1,330,013 from 32 starts. Trinity owner Tom Egan was on hand to lead his stable star into the winner’s circle.
Value Engineering, a 10-1 shot, finished second, another length before 45-1 shot Wicked Fast. Both of those are Maker trainees, while the fourth Maker runner in the field, Temple, was fifth, with only 37-1 shot Shawdyshawdyshawdy keeping them from making up the entire superfecta. Abaan, the 5-2 favorite and 2022 McKnight winner, led to the top of the stretch before fading to ninth.
The $2 exacta (11-9) paid $66.40, the $1 trifecta (11-9-12) returned $549, and the 10-cent superfecta (11-9-12-2) was worth $763.99.
Maker, the former D. Wayne Lukas assistant who has won nearly 3,100 races since going out on his own in 2003, has enjoyed high-level success in a variety of categories, but none more so than with older turf horses. He maintains multiple bases at any given time of year, including a year-round stable at Gulfstream. His prior McKnight wins came in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.
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