Personal Best, Red Knight Shine at Gulfstream

Under a powerful ride from Irad Ortiz Jr., Personal Best  nabbed the $150,000 La Prevoyante Stakes (G3T) Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park and delivered the top performance of her career for owner/breeder Joseph Allen. 

The 4-year-old gray Tapit   filly traveled perfectly throughout the 1 1/2 mile event on firm turf, racing midpack through opening splits of :23.48 and :48.19, with Adventuring  in control early and Beside Herself  trying to keep up with the swift pace in second. Down the backstretch and on the final turn, Adventuring maintained her frontrunning position in 1:13.57 and 1:38.71 as Transient  moved up from the outside to bid for the lead as the seven-horse field turned for home after 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.71.

Adventuring continued to hold the lead with strong encouragement from Joel Rosario, but the 5-year-old mare did not have enough left in the tank as Tyler Gaffalione and Transient passed while Personal Best blazed into contention from the outside. At the wire, it was the Shug McGaughey-trained Personal Best by a neck, timed in 2:26.04.

Transient took second while Adventuring lasted for third. 

"She was tracking really good there. She's got a tendency to hang. I think that's why Irad waited the way he did, so he could pounce when he pounced," McGaughey told FanDuel TV's Caton Bredar. "Sometimes she'll get up there and she won't go. I think (Irad's) ridden her twice now, and he's ridden perfect both times."

Favored Personal Best ($4.60) improved her record to 3-2-3 from nine starts and increased her earnings to $294,860.

The winner was bred in Kentucky out of Allen's grade 1-winning War Front   mare War Flag , who took the 2017 Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) as well as the 2016 Prix Chloe (G3) during a prior French campaign. Personal Best is the dam's first foal from three others. Her only other foal to race, 3-year-old Capture the Flag , won on debut at Saratoga Race Course in July 2022 in her lone start.

Red Knight Leads Top-Three Finish for Maker

Trainer Mike Maker managed to top his previous four victories in the $150,000 William L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) by saddling the top three finishers in Saturday's 1 1/2-mile turf stakes at Gulfstream.

Trinity Farm's homebred 9-year-old Red Knight  ($8.60) won the McKnight by a length over stablemate Value Engineering , who went off at odds of 10-1. It was another length back to 45-1 shot Wicked Fast , with another Maker-trained horse, Temple , running fifth.

"One, two, three, and five. We just missed the superfecta," Maker joked. "Every horse ran a great race, and I'm proud."

Red Knight, a son of Pure Prize , spent the early years of his career with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and was transferred to Maker's care in 2022. He has three wins in five starts for Maker.

Bidding to repeat in the McKnight for trainer Todd Pletcher, favored Abaan  quickly grabbed the lead in the three-turn test and led the way early with a quarter-mile in :24.18. Agitare  moved up to provide pace pressure and the half-mile was run in :48.27, with three-quarters going in 1:12.67 as those two dueled.

Red Knight and other closers arrived in the stretch, when the eventual winner moved into contention and surged to the lead under Ortiz. The final time was 2:25.11 on a firm course.

"Irad had Red Knight settled in the back off the pace," Maker said. "The pace was hot, which favored him. The rest is history.

"I had a lot of confidence in (Red Knight)," the trainer added. "The first time he ran for us, he hadn't run in a year and won. He likes to run fresh. He loves his job."

"Thank God I had a good trip from tough post (10)," Ortiz reported. "He's perfect for the distance because he relaxes very well. With five furlongs to go he started to gain ground on the outside and I just let him do his thing."

Bred in New York out of the winning Skip Away mare Isabel Away, Red Knight improved his record to 11-8-1 from 32 starts, with earnings of $1,330,013. He is the first graded winner out of his dam, who also produced black-type winner Macagone. Her last reported foal was born in 2018.