Knicks Go Takes 10 1/4-Length Cornhusker Stroll
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Photo: Coady Photography
Knicks Go wins the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows
Running in the second-to-last race on a July 2 Festival of Racing night card at Prairie Meadows, Knicks Go was simply out for an evening stroll—a lucrative one at that.
Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old son of Paynter made short work of his rivals in the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3), taking the lead shortly after the start of the 1 1/8-mile event and opening up after turning for home en route to a 10 1/4-length score.
Jockey Joel Rosario had little to do in deep stretch but peek back for the competition, and simply summed the race up as "pretty easy."
It was the first win for the Brad Cox trainee since his Jan. 23 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) victory at Gulfstream Park, which came on the heels of a victory in the 2020 Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland, part of a four-race win streak when moved to Cox from Ben Colebrook. The striking gray ran fourth in the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup (G1) and returned to the United States to run fourth in the June 5 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park before shipping to Iowa for a confidence booster.
"He ran really well today. He always tries really hard," Rosario said.
Knicks Go wins the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows
Quick out of the gate from post 5 in a field of six older horses, 3-5 favorite Knicks Go swiftly put away dual grade 3 winner Last Judgment , who matched strides from the start but settled into a tracking position off the eventual winner's outside flank. Clicking off fractions of :23.33, :47.02, and 1:10.77, Knicks Go leveled out for home through a swift 1:35.06 mile en route to victory in a final time of 1:47.33 on a fast track.
Last Judgment settled for second at odds of 3-1, while 17-1 shot Rated R Superstar completed the trifecta. They were followed home by Tenfold , Dinar , and Modernist . Drifting West was scratched.
Bred in Maryland by Angie Moore, Knicks Go is the lone stakes winner from the stakes-winning Outflanker mare Kosmo's Buddy's eight foals. Her 4-year-old Orb colt named Believe Your Eyes is unraced and her 3-year-old Broken Vow colt Cosmicality has run sixth three times this year. She also has an unnamed yearling filly by Justify and dropped a Ghostzapper filly April 19.
Knicks Go was an $87,000 purchase by the KRA from Woods Edge Farm's consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His record now stands at 7-3-1 from 21 starts, with earnings of $4,833,995.