Carrying the famed blue silks of global powerhouse Godolphin, Great Britain-bred Silver Knott displayed his explosive turn of foot as he secured a dominating victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War Stakes contested at 1 3/8 miles over the inner turf by older horses at Belmont at The Big A.
In making his second start as a 4-year-old, Charlie Appleby-trained Silver Knott notched back-to-back Grade 2 affairs at a marathon distance. The gelded son of Lope de Vega and the Nathaniel mare God Given began his 2024 campaign with a score in the 1 1/2-mile Elkhorn with Flavien Prat in the irons at Keeneland on April 20.
Click here for Belmont at Aqueduct entries and results.
With Prat back aboard for the Man o’ War, Silver Knott was rated patiently on the inner turf course rated good behind frontrunning So High and his Godolphin stablemate Nations Pride, who was sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the field of nine. Ohana Honor followed in fourth position. They raced in that order into the first turn and along the backstretch as comfortable splits of 24.09, 48.09, 1:13.48, 1:38.08 and 2:02.07 were established.
The globetrotting, multiple Grade 1- and Group 1-winning Nations Pride was trying to bounce back from an uncharacteristic seventh in the Grade 1 Bahrain International Trophy last out on Nov. 17. He edged closer to the leader as Silver Knott tracked them in third position.
As the pacesetter faded, Frankie Dettori piloted Nations Pride into the lead near the quarter-pole and was in command in the upper stretch. But he was no match for Silver Knott, who was gaining steadily. He assumed the front inside the eighth pole, and he kicked clear to cross the wire 4 1/2 lengths in front with a final time of 2:13.80.
Ohana Honor closed willingly through the lane to overtake Nations Pride, who was a neck behind in third.
“It worked out well,” Prat said. “He got himself into the race, and I was able to follow Frankie the whole way around, and he just poured it on. It seemed like there were one or two horses that could go and make a really strong pace. I was intent on breaking well and getting into a good position, but after that I didn’t know exactly how it would set up. Around the turn I was traveling super well, and when I called on him, the way he responded, I thought I could get home.”
Appleby, one of the premier trainers in Europe and Dubai, also has enjoyed a remarkable level of success in North America in recent years. His assistant Alex Merriam was pleased by the effort of both runners.
“Charlie spoke to Frankie and Flavien, and I think Frankie thought So High was going to go forward, and he was keen to stalk behind him, so it made sense for the other fellow (Prat) to get a lead,” Merriam said. “They’ve gone a nice pace which Flavien said suits this fellow. They went steady enough last time, and going a stronger gallop probably suits him better. They both traveled around there nicely. Nations had his first run back for a while. and Frankie mentioned he was a bit rusty, but he ran his race and just got tired towards the end. I thought the jocks had them in the right place, and it worked out well.”
The gelded Silver Knott, who was a $1,035,915 purchase at the 2021 Tattersalls October yearling sale in the United Kingdom, was stakes placed in his three previous starts, all in America, prior to the Elkhorn.
Now with back-to-back Grade 2 scores on his résumé, he looks like a horse on the rise and one who relishes the longer distances.
“I think he (Silver Knott) has (improved),” Merriam said. “He’s been gelded, and I think the step up in trip has probably helped him. If you look at his pedigree, he’s probably a horse that wants a bit further. He’s done nothing but improve, so fingers crossed he keeps going that way.”
Ohana Honor, who is trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, turned in a big effort to earn a Grade 2 stakes placing while taking a major jump in class from the allowance ranks in his last outing. His connections were proud of his performance.
“I had a beautiful trip. He ran his best,” jockey Kendrick Carmouche said. “Those guys had the race set up from the time they left the gate 1-2-3. I just had to track them, and whenever they moved, I had to get my horse out to run. The best horse (Silver Knott) was sitting third, and you could see that going around there, but my horse gave me a good kick and run second. I think in a different scenario with a change of tactics in the race, I think I could have won.”
“I like the way he got ridden,” McGaughey said. “He saved the ground all the way and then he got him out one path. The pace was OK.”
Silver Knott, who was bred by St. Albans Bloodstock in Great Britian, paid $10.20 for a $2 bet. He upped his earnings to $873,276 with the $220,000 winner’s share of the purse and his record 14: 5-2-4.
The complete order of finish was Silver Knott, Ohana Honor, Nations Pride, Tawny Port, Kertez, So High, Greek Order, Harry Hood and Rocket and Roll.
Both Silver Knott and Nations Pride will remain stateside and could reappear in major stakes races at Saratoga this summer.
“The plan is for both of them to ship up to Saratoga tomorrow morning and then make a plan from there,” Merriam said. “We’ll see how they come out of the race.”
Joey Freshwater sprints forward in Runhappy
Joey Freshwater announced his presence in the sprint division by capturing the $175,000 Runhappy Stakes (G3), a six-furlong test for older horses.
The 4-year-old son of Jimmy Creed who was a decisive winner of an optional-claiming race at Aqueduct last out April 4 for trainer Linda Rice, was the beneficiary of a four-wide trip. He raced close to the quick splits of 22.01, 44.70, and 56.82 seconds set by odds-on favorite Straight No Chaser, and then he was in the perfect position when the leader faded late.
Jockey José Lezcano, who had the return call, had Joey Freshwater forwardly placed from the start, got him into position midway on the turn and into contention at the top of the stretch.
Owned by Winning Move Stable, Joey Freshwater rallied to take the lead inside the eighth pole and then dug in to hold on by a neck over Ninetyprcentmaddie. He crossed the wire with the final time of 1:09.41 on the fast track. Twenty Four Mamba finished in third, another 2 1/4 lengths back.
“He broke pretty good like last time,” Lezcano said about Joey Freshwater. “He was outside. I don’t have to use him to be where I want to be. He liked to be there and run in the clear, and I waited until the three-sixteenths, and he really punched hard and went on and won the race.”
Straight No Chaser, dispatched as the 3-5 top choice in the field of five, was making his return from a nearly one-year layoff since making the grade in the Maryland Sprint (G3) last May at Pimlico. He was impeded in his efforts from the start by a troubled trip.
After breaking from the gate slowly, Straight No Chaser stumbled and rushed to the lead when he got his footing under Hall of Famer John Velázquez. Though putting in a game effort, he had tired by mid-stretch and finished fourth, a half-length behind Twenty Four Mamba.
“He outbroke himself,” Velázquez said. “A little too fast. The horse outside me (Durante) tried to come in. I was close to the rail, and I held him the best I could, but after that, he didn’t have it.”
Rice was aware that Straight No Chaser’s misfortune worked to Joey Freshwater’s benefit.
“When I saw the 1 stumble and not break well, I thought we’ve got an opening here,” she said. “With a horse of that caliber, you’re just hoping for things to unfold well for you. I think the outside draw was good for him. He ran a big race, again.”
Lezcano also was aware of Straight No Chaser’s inauspicious beginning.
“He stumbled a little, and to get to the lead he had to go faster than we were going, and we were going pretty fast,” Lezcano said.
Ninetyprcentmaddie, who was angled widest of all in the upper stretch, rallied strongly through the lane with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons before coming up just short.
“We were unlucky,” Ortiz said. “He was in contact with the field the whole time. He was there. When I got to the quarter pole, I had to wait a little bit longer than what I wanted to, and unfortunately we didn’t get there on time.”
Joey Freshwater, who was bred in Kentucky by doctors Aaron Sones, Naoya Yoshida and Eric Crawford, is out of the More Than Ready mare Lake Turkana. He has won 5 of 8 starts at Aqueduct and improved his record to 16: 6-2-2 while upping his bankroll to $480,780.
Rice said Joey Freshwater will target the True North (G2), a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for older horses on the June 8 Belmont Stakes undercard at Saratoga.
Joey Freshwater returned $7.80 for a $2 win bet. The complete order of finish behind him was Ninetyprcentmaddie, Twenty Four Mamba, Straight No Chaser and Durante. Stage Left was scratched.
Neecie Marie rallies to
win Beaugay
Neecie Marie made the grade with a perfectly executed ride
by Hall of Famer Joel Rosario against a small field in the $175,000 Beaugay
Stakes (G3), a 1 1/16-mile outer-turf test for older fillies and mares.
Trained by Butch Reid, Neecie Marie earned her first graded
coup in her 4-year-old debut after finishing a close second to Eternal Hope
last year in both the 1 3/8-mile Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3) and 1
1/8-mile Sands Point (G2) over the Aqueduct turf
The Pennsylvania-bred Cross Traffic bay owned by Michael
Milam emerged cleanly from post 2 of five but was unhurried to trail in fourth
as the sharp-starting Spirit And Glory, who entered from a win in the local
Plenty of Grace, and post-time favorite Whitebeam drew off in a pace duel to
mark an opening quarter-mile in 24.09 seconds over the good footing.
The pair put eight lengths between them and Quarrel in third
with Whitebeam sticking her neck in front up the backstretch, but a determined
Spirit And Glory would not let her foe take charge, and she battled back along
the inside through the half-mile in 47.87 seconds.
A patient Rosario held Neecie Marie steady in last before
coaxing her with a shake of the reins rounding the turn through three-quarters
of a mile in 1:11.62.
Neecie Marie still had seven lengths to make up at the
stretch call as the top duo battled on fiercely with little separating them at
the eighth pole, but Neecie Marie made up ground with giant strides down the
center of the course after angling wide around Quarrel and slow-starting
Aspray.
Whitebeam and Spirit And Glory remained head to head in the
final 100 yards, but their battle turned into one for place honors as Neecie
Marie swept by them in the shadow of the wire to claim victory with a final
time of 1:42.80.
Whitebeam bravely landed second by a head over Spirit And
Glory with Quarrel finishing another 2 1/4 lengths back in fourth. Aspray
completed the order of finish. Main track-only entrants Hot Fudge, Bustin Bay
and Ocean Gateway were scratched.
Reid, who has hit the board in 6 of 10 starts in New York
this year, said he was proud his filly overcame such an early deficit.
“I was a little concerned (about being too far back), but I
could see the jock wasn’t concerned. He was still taking a hold going down the
backside, so he must have felt he had something under him,” Reid said. “It
looked like a daunting task turning for home, but this is a nice filly, and I
think a bigger, stronger filly than last year, too. We’re looking for big
things from her.”
Rosario, aboard for the first time in the afternoon,
credited Neecie Marie’s heart to win at a distance that is likely shorter than
she prefers.
“I was very comfortable,” Rosario said. “She doesn’t have a
lot of early speed, and for a mile-and-a-sixteenth, I thought maybe it would be
a little short for her, but she was grinding it out, and she kept coming. She
finished really well for me.
“If you asked me if I thought we were going to win the race
turning for home, maybe not. But it looked like she was getting to them, and
the further we go, the more she was getting to them. It was perfect.”
Reid said future plans for Neecie Marie likely include more
distance.
“We’ll see how she bounces out of this one,” Reid said.
“This was obviously a little under her best distance, but it was what we were
looking for off the layoff, and I think she’ll be better on down the road.”
Bred by Jon Marshall, Neecie Marie adds to a résumé that
includes an additional stakes triumph in the state-bred Mrs. Penny in August at
Parx Racing. She banked $96,250 in victory and improved her lifetime record to
10: 5-2-0 while returning $17.80 for a $2 win ticket.
Four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, trainer of
Whitebeam and fifth-place Aspray, said last year’s Diana (G1) winner Whitebeam
may have tired late because of the cut in the turf.
“Given the ground, we’ve had rain and it’s a bit soft, those
were probably pretty strong fractions, so she probably felt it the last 70
yards or so there,” Brown said. “We’ll have to hope she got a lot out of it. It
was a good effort. She just got tired late.”