Red Knight Conquers Field in H. Allen Jerkens Stakes
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Kenny Martin
Red Knight (inside) wins the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Trinity Farm homebred Red Knight closed his 4-year-old campaign on a high note when he stormed home to win the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes Dec. 29 at Gulfstream Park.
Making his fourth stakes attempt in Saturday's two-mile turf test, Red Knight broke late and was quickly lost in the scrum at the back of the 13-horse field.
Driving forward for an early lead, Ekhtibaar took control and set the pace, completing the first mile in :48.40. Still in command at the 12-furlong mark, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Unbridled Holiday, Ekhtibaar stopped inside and dropped back sharply to 13th.
Back in ninth and unhurried through the first lap past the finish line, Red Knight began his drive to the front on the outside under Luis Saez. Clicking past his rivals on a five-wide run to the lead and angled to the inside in the upper stretch, Red Knight drew even with Soglio before kicking clear by a length.
Soglio dug in for a late challenge and managed to close in on Red Knight but was bested at the wire by a head in a final time of 3:19.87.
"It was a long race, and they went pretty fast at first. I just tried to hold my horse because he wanted to run off also in the first turn," Saez said. "I just tried to stay patient all the way, and in the last turn at the five-eighths pole, I came out and let him pick it up a little. When we came to the three-eighths pole, he was ready to take off."
Soglio took second, 6 1/2 lengths ahead of Nessy in third. Winter Union followed in fourth. Sent off at odds of 5-1, Red Knight returned $13, $5.40, and $3.80 on a $2 wager.
"Luis made a tactical move leaving the backstretch," said Ken McCarthy, assistant to winning trainer Bill Mott. "He got the jump on the favorite, who looked like he had a little trouble. It worked out well for our horse."
It was the first stakes win of an 11-race career for Red Knight. Bred in New York out of the Skip Away mare Isabel Away, the 4-year-old Pure Prize gelding improved his record to 6-2-1 with $340,440 in earnings.
Argentina-bred Si Que Es Buena defeated millionaire Holy Helena by a neck one race earlier in the $75,0000 Via Borghese Stakes. The victory marked the first North American win for the 5-year-old mare, a graded stakes winner in Peru.
Vision Perfect kicked off the first stakes of the card with a 2 1/2-length victory in the Janus Stakes, Girls Know Best notched her third stakes victory of 2018 in the Abundantia Stakes, and 3-year-old Too Charming took the Tropical Park Oaks.
Breaking the Rules completed the day in Race 11 with a 3 1/2-length score in the Tropical Park Derby.