Knicks Go to Make Seasonal Debut in Sam F. Davis Stakes
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Photo: Keeneland/Coady Photography
Knicks Go trains in October at Keeneland, where he won the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at 70-1 odds
Trainer Ben Colebrook has seen enough from the morning works at Tampa Bay Downs by Knicks Go to make the track's path to the spring classics "Plan A" for his first grade 1 winner.
KRA Stud Farm's son of Paynter who won last year's Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut Feb. 9 in the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay, where he's expected to face nine other sophomores in the 1 1/16-mile test.
After Knicks Go secured his upset grade 1 win at Keeneland and followed with a runner-up finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs, Colebrook didn't have to spend too much time considering his first winter option for the colt. This is the third year the trainer has been based at Tampa.
Colebrook clearly had the Tampa preps in mind for Knicks Go, but he also knows not every horse finds the Tampa surface to their liking. He carefully watched how his star handled the surface in the mornings, and Knicks Go thrived in those sessions, earning two bullets in his three breezes since Jan. 19.
"Just because they train well on it doesn't mean they're going to race well on it, but if they train poorly on it, I know they're going to run poorly on it," Colebrook said. "I think we're 50% there, as he really seems to like it in the morning. No excuses now with the track, but we'll see what happens."
Colebrook has seen mental and physical progression in Knicks Go as well.
"I think he's a little more settled in his gallops; he's not tugging on the rider as much—he's more professional," Colebrook said. "And I think he's gotten stronger. He didn't get much taller, but he's filled out quite a bit. I don't have a scale, but I'd be willing to bet he weighs a lot more than he did at the end of his 2-year-old year."
With Knicks Go appearing at home on the surface, Colebrook said the Sam F. Davis is a good fit for a season opener, offering Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1). If all goes well with his gray/roan colt Saturday, Colebrook has penciled in starts in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) March 9 and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) April 6 at Keeneland.
Other accomplished runners entered in the Sam F. Davis include stakes winners Five Star General, who is campaigned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing; and Stonehedge's Well Defined.
Godolphin has a pair of runners entered in Cave Run, who finished third in the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes Jan. 19 at Tampa, and Kentucky Wildcat, a son of Tapit who enters off a maiden win at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won the Sam F. Davis six times since 2006, has entered Robert LaPenta's So Alive off a Jan. 6 optional-claiming allowance win at Tampa.
Tampa Bay Downs, Saturday, February 09, 2019, Race 11Entries: Sam F. Davis S. (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Counter Offer (KY)
Antonio A. Gallardo
118
Ian R. Wilkes
12/1
2
2Going for Gold (KY)
Jose A. Bracho
118
Robert B. Hess, Jr.
20/1
3
3Knicks Go (MD)
Albin Jimenez
124
Ben Colebrook
5/2
4
4Cave Run (KY)
Jesus Lopez Castanon
118
Eoin G. Harty
6/1
5
5Moonster (KY)
Samy Camacho
118
Dale L. Romans
30/1
6
6Kentucky Wildcat (KY)
Joe Bravo
118
Thomas Albertrani
9/2
7
7Five Star General (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
Arnaud Delacour
4/1
8
8So Alive (KY)
Javier Castellano
118
Todd A. Pletcher
5/1
9
9Well Defined (FL)
Pablo Morales
122
Kathleen O'Connell
8/1
10
10Still Dreaming (KY)
Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.
118
H. Graham Motion
15/1
