Red Knight, Dalika Score Gritty Wins at Kentucky Downs

Red Knight  was making just his second start off a year's layoff when he lined up for the $694,180 Kentucky Turf Cup (G2T) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 10, but trainer Mike Maker said he felt "he'd be competitive."

The 8-year-old Pure Prize  gelding was that and more, rallying to the front early in the long stretch run and gutting it out through the final furlong to edge Resorts World Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) winner Gufo  by a nose. Another Mystery  was just another neck back in third.

Red Knight improved on his second-place performance in the 2020 edition of the Kentucky Turf Cup and earned a Breeders' Cup Challenge spot in the Nov. 5 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at Keeneland.

The $1 million purse advertised for the Kentucky Cup included bonuses available only to Kentucky-bred horses. With Red Knight and Illinois-bred Another Mystery in the top three, that total purse was reduced accordingly.

Arklow , a two-time winner of the race, was well positioned coming into the stretch but faded to finish sixth in the marquee event on the program, which also featured the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T) won by Dalika .

Red Knight, bred in New York by his owner, Trinity Farm, raced competitively at the highest levels but went to the sideline after finishing 10th in the restricted John's Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in August of 2021. Switched from Bill Mott's barn to Maker's, he returned to action July 27 with a late-running win in the Colonial Cup Stakes at Colonial Downs with Another Mystery second.

Building on that, jockey Gerardo Corrales kept Red Knight well back through the first half of the Kentucky Turf Cup, moved up as the field climbed the backstretch hill, and was in a challenging spot turning for home. After taking the lead in mid-stretch, he ducked in toward the rail and was all out to hold onto the advantage, finishing the 1 1/2 miles on firm turf in 2:26.96. He returned $26.04 for a $2 win wager.

"He ran a huge race coming off a year layoff, so bad trainer that I am, I figured he's gotta move forward off that race," Maker said with typical self-effacement on the post-race CNBC interview with broadcaster Nick Luck. "I thought he'd be competitive. A good horse makes me look good."

Maker dominates at the brief but rich Kentucky Downs races and, again, didn't want the credit.

"The best purses in the country," he said. "I've got a lot of horses that fit. A lot of grass horses."

Owner/breeder Tom Egan of Trinity Farm seemed inclined to consider the Breeders' Cup Turf, while acknowledging the quality of the opposition.

"You get the Europeans coming over there. Who knows? Another Enable  comes over. But fourth is a heck of a thing in itself," he said.

Egan called Red Knight, who is out of the Skip Away  mare Isabel Away , a "gift from above."

"You can't expect you'll breed a horse like that. He's tremendous," he said of his veteran campaigner, who improved his record to 10-8-1 from 29 starts with earnings of $1,210,388. "A year ago, I thought he was done. So he's the comeback kid."

Video: Kentucky Turf Cup S. (G2T)

Dalika Lands Ladies Turf

Two races earlier on the card, it was déjà vu.

Only a month earlier, the scene this time at Churchill Downs, a gray and a nearly black mare locked horns at the top of the lane and engaged in an animated duel to the wire, with the German-bred Dalika  prevailing by a half-length over favored Princess Grace .

Facing each other for the third time Saturday in the $726,580 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T), Dalika again got the better of her rival—edging her by a neck.  

Trainer Al Stall Jr. admitted he wasn't the least concerned when he saw John and Susan Moore's Princess Grace range alongside Dalika as the field began its uphill charge to the wire.

"We've seen that movie before. It's 2.0," he said.

Although a light sprinkling of rain descended down upon Kentucky Downs in the minutes before the Ladies Turf, the slightly damp course did nothing to slow down Dalika, who sprung to the lead and rolled through early fractions of :23.06, :46.17, and 1:10.11.

A local winner of the course as a 4-year-old in 2020, and a close second in this race last year—to none other than Princess Grace—Dalika again showed her prowess for the arduous Kentucky Downs oval, stopping the timer in 1:33.53 for the mile under Brian Hernandez Jr. Her time was .35 of a second faster than the WinStar Mint Million Stakes (G3T) for males earlier on the card.

"I told (Stall) before the race that if it was a stamina contest I think we might get an edge on this course, and it worked out that way," said owner Paul Varga of Bel-Mar Equine. "As far as we were concerned, this was the place to take a shot because she likes the course so much."

The purse, which Kentucky Downs increased due to the presence of a grade 1 winner (Dalika), was also enticing.

"Well, we didn't flunk math," Stall said.

Since Dalika was bred in Germany, however, she was competing for a $550,000 purse, not the $1 million that was up for grabs for Kentucky-breds.

Behind the top two, a battle for show honors took place between Market Rumor , Henrietta Topham , and Sunny One , with Market Rumor completing the trifecta by a nose.

With Dalika not currently nominated to the Breeders' Cup, the connections will take it day-by-day with the 6-year-old daughter of Pastorius . The mare, purchased as a 2-year-old by Varga after a runner-up finish in a listed stakes at Chantilly, has already exceeded expectations since coming to the United States four years ago.

A grade 1 winner and earner of over $1.2 million, the mare sports a record of 9-7-0 from 29 starts. She paid $7.08 to Saturday's race.

"(She is) an absolute amazon warrior," Stall said. "She's a fabulous mare, I can't wait to see what Paul does with her in the breeding shed because he can really book those stallions.

Bred by Gestut Ammerland, Dalika is out of the Hurricane Run  mare Dawn to Run, the dam of five winners from five foals to race.

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