Tour Player shows he's best again at Churchill Downs in Knicks Go Stakes
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tour Player is never better than when he’s racing at Churchill Downs, a fact he proved again Saturday as he dominated the $200,000 Knicks Go Stakes going a flat mile.
Sitting a perfect third early on under Flavien Prat, Tour Player moved into second around the far turn, then took control from the pacesetting Scotland at the five-sixteenths pole. He was never threatened in the stretch as he bounded clear for a 2 1/2-length score. Moonlight, last of nine to the top of the lane, rallied to get second by a neck over favored Dragoon Guard.
Will Take It finished fourth, followed by Be You, Capital Idea, Prince of Power, Banjo Chris and Scotland.
Tour Player won for the sixth time from 12 starts, the fifth time from six starts at Churchill Downs. Tour Player was making his third start for Graham Grace Stables and trainer Whit Beckman since the horse was purchased out of a December digital sale for $350,000. He was coming off a listed stakes wins at Colonial Downs in March and has now earned $184,165 for his new connections.
“That was awesome,” Beckman said. “He loves Churchill and I love him.”
Beckman also loved the trip Flavien Prat worked out on Tour Player, getting him into third, about 2 1/2 lengths behind Scotland, who set fractions of 22.75 seconds for the quarter and 45.40 for the half. When Prat asked him to run around the far turn, Tour Player responded, overhauling Scotland with relative ease.
“You got to hand it to Flavien, he just has such a way of putting these horses in the perfect position,” Beckman said. “I watched him out of the gate, coming across the chute; couldn’t have drawn that up any better.”
Tour Player, a 5-year-old of American Pharoah, covered the mile in 1:33.97 and returned $8.70 as the second choice.
“He got himself in a good position, I was able to get off the rail and he was traveling super all the way around,” Prat said. “I felt the pace was solid, so I was trying to take my time as much as I could and he just responded super.”
Tour Player was previously in Bob Baffert's barn. Earlier this week, Beckman said he asked Baffert why he never tried him around two turns.
“He said then he’d have to run against Nysos, and then he listed off his murderer’s row of horses,” Beckman said. “It might be something we try.”
The most prestigious two-turn race for older horses remaining at Churchill is the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 27. That race is expected to attract White Abarrio, Sovereignty and Magnitude.
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