Trainer Cox plotting Knicks Go's path to BC Classic

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When Knicks Go returns to the Breeders’ Cup this November, it won’t be to seek a repeat victory in the $1 million Dirt Mile.

Knicks Go, by virtue of his powerful 4 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, earned a shot at stretching out to 1 1/4 miles in the $6 million Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

“He deserves that, so that would be the target,” trainer Brad Cox said Sunday morning. “How we get there, I don’t know.”

The two most logical options are the Grade 3, $400,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs or the Grade 1, $300,000 Awesome Again at Santa Anita. Both races are run at 1 1/8 miles around two turns on Oct. 2.

A less sexy option could be the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile on Sept. 25. It would mean cutting back in distance, but at least it would be a two-turn race and likely pretty easy. The race is held the same day as the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, which has been mentioned as a potential next start for Mandaloun, also trained by Cox.

Cox said for Knicks Go he would like a race akin to the Cornhusker, a 1 1/8-mile race that Knicks Go dominated by 10 1/4 lengths five weeks before the Whitney.

“I’d like to see a race where he gets something out of it and it’s a good experience to set him up for the Classic,” Cox said.

In February 2020, Knicks Go won an allowance race at Oaklawn Park. Shortly thereafter, he underwent surgery to remove a bone chip. He returned on Oct. 4 to win a third-level allowance at Keeneland and five weeks later won the BC Dirt Mile, also at Keeneland.

This year, Knicks Go has made five starts with victories in the Pegasus and Whitney - both Grade 1s - and the Grade 3 Cornhusker. He also got beat twice in one-turn races - in the Saudi Cup and the Metropolitan Handicap.

With the foundation that Knicks Go has under him, Cox said the horse is “better equipped” to get the 1 1/4 miles of the Classic this year.

“He’s a better horse than he was last year because he’s run more and we found out more about him,” Cox said. “We found out he’s not a one-turn horse, we also found out that he’s one that doesn’t want to be on the lead in 48-and-2 [for a half-mile]. He wants to be on the lead going 47, that’s his style.”

On Saturday, Knicks Go opened up a five-length lead going a half-mile in 46.76 seconds under Joel Rosario. Though the field got closer to him at the head of the lane, Knicks Go rebroke and ran away from Maxfield, Silver State, and Swiss Skydiver.

“Watching the replay, one of the most impressive things was his gallop out,” Cox said. “Joel tapped him on the shoulder once down the lane and he responded. He’s a very good horse.”

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Knicks Go, a 5-year-old son of Paynter owned by Korea Racing Authority, earned a 111 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

Cox said Knicks Go would stay in Saratoga for an undetermined period, perhaps based on the weather in Saratoga and when the Churchill Downs backside reopens for its September meet.

Though Maxfield suffered his second career defeat in running second to Knicks Go, trainer Brendan Walsh was encouraged by the performance. Prior to Saturday, Maxfield’s only other loss was a third in the Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles, but Walsh saw enough Saturday to plot out a path toward the Classic.

“I think after yesterday you would,” Walsh said. “I said it after Santa Anita, I think he needed to do it to learn to do it, and I think yesterday he took a step towards doing it again. If you took out Knicks Go yesterday, he would have been a nice winner and he wasn’t stopping. I think he’s getting there.”

Walsh was non-committal on where Maxfield will run next. The Lukas Classic would make sense, as Maxfield is 4 for 4 with three stakes wins at Churchill Downs. The Awesome Again could also be in play.

Silver State had a six-race winning streak snapped when he ran third in the Whitney. He is a prime candidate for the BC Dirt Mile - he earned a fees-paid berth into that race by virtue of his Met Mile win. Races like the Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso at Belmont on Sept. 25 or the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward at Belmont on Oct. 2 could be in play for him.

Swiss Skydiver, fourth in the Whitney, is likely headed for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on Aug. 28.

By My Standards, second in the Whitney a year ago, stumbled badly at the start Saturday and threw his left front shoe and finished last. Trainer Bret Calhoun said Sunday that the horse is okay and he would likely ship back to Colonial Downs while Calhoun figure out what to do next.

“We don’t really have any plans at this point, we’d been dialed in on this race for so long,” Calhoun said. “We’ll just draw a line through this one and regroup.”