Silver Knott finds easy victory in Man o' War

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Nations Pride had the fancier resume on paper. Silver Knott had the faster turn of foot on the track.

Silver Knott backed up his solid victory in the Grade 2 Elkhorn last month at Keeneland with an emphatic 4 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War Stakes at Aqueduct. His Charlie Appleby-trained and Godolphin-owned stablemate, Nations Pride, finished third, a neck behind Ohana Honor.

Silver Knott, a 4-year-old gelding by Lope de Vega, won for the fifth time from 14 starts. He was a multiple Group 3 winner in Europe as a 2-year-old, ending his campaign with a runner-up finish in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland.

Silver Knott made five of his six starts at 3 in the U.S., finishing second in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita and third in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar, both after being gelded.

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Silver Knott’s victories in the Elkhorn at 1 1/2 miles and the Man o’ War at 1 3/8 miles were at longer distances than he had been running.

“The step up in trip probably helped him,” said Alex Merriam, assistant to Appleby. “You look at his pedigree and he’s probably a horse that wants a bit farther. So, yeah, he’s done nothing but improve. Fingers crossed he keeps going that way.”

In the Elkhorn, Silver Knott sat second off a pedestrian pace. In the Man o’ War, So High, under Romero Maragh, set a realistic pace of 24.09 seconds for the quarter and 48.09 for the half-mile with Nations Pride sitting second under Frankie Dettori, with Silver Knott, under Flavien Prat, in third, six lengths off the pace.

Nations Pride made first run at So High, but Silver Knott ran with him and by him to get the fairly easy victory. Ohana Honor outfinished Nations Pride to get second.

“He got himself into the race, then I was able to follow Frankie all the way around and he just poured it on,” Prat said.

Silver Knott (106 Beyer Speed Figure) covered the 1 3/8 miles over good turf in 2:13.80 and returned $10.20 to win.

Nations Pride, who won the Saratoga Derby in 2022, was making his first start since he finished seventh in the Bahrain International Trophy last November.

“They both traveled around there nicely, obviously Nations’ first run back for a while, Frankie mentioned he was a bit rusty, he ran his race and just got a bit tired towards the end,” Merriam said. “The jocks had them in the right place and it worked out well.”

Nations Pride finished 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Tawny Port, who was followed by Kertez, So High, Greek Order, Harry Hood and Rocket and Roll.

Ohana Honor was coming off a front-running win in an allowance at Keeneland on April 14. He was fourth, 10 lengths off the pace early on in the Man O’ War, but did well to get second.

Trainer Shug McGaughey said he liked the way Ohana Honor was ridden. Carmouche said he moved when the two Godolphin horses did.

“I had to get my horse out to run, the best horse was sitting third, you could see that going around there,” said Carmouche, referring to Silver Knott. “My horse gave me a good kick and ran second. I think a different scenario, we get to change-up tactics of the race, I think I could win.”

Merriam said Silver Knott and Nations Pride were scheduled to ship to Saratoga on Sunday morning and prepare for a yet-to-be-determined spot. The Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan at 1 3/16 miles on the June 8 Belmont Stakes program seems like a spot for one or both horses.

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