Knicks Go

   The TDN's 'Let's Talk'--a podcast series featuring TDN's Christina Bossinakis and TVG's on-air analyst Gabby Gaudet, offers candid discussion on personal, and sometimes sensitive, topics that are often uncomfortable for many to speak about in an open forum.    The latest edition presents a trio of successful trainers--New York's David Donk, Ron Moquett, who is principally based at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs and Kentucky horseman Brad Cox, who was honored with his second Eclipse Award as the nation's leading trainer at the awards ceremony held at Santa Anita...

Already named champion older dirt male Thursday, Knicks Go (Paynter) finished off Eclipse Award night with one more big win as he was crowned Horse of the Year for a 2021 campaign that saw him rack up $7,324,140 in earnings with five wins from seven starts, capped off with a convincing gate-to-wire score in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic for Korea Racing Authority and trainer Brad Cox. The grey, who stands this year at Taylor Made, was bred in Maryland by Angie Moore. 

Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) carried strong 2020 form into 2021 with a comprehensive success in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., and the $87,000 KEESEP yearling had a strong second half of his 5-year-old season, winning four straight including the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. As expected, he got the nod as champion older dirt male Thursday. The Brad Cox pupil now begins his second career at Taylor Made Stallions. 

Brad Cox earned his first Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer in 2020—ending a four-year streak by Chad Brown—and he doubled up in 2021 thanks to the exploits of his many standouts, including Knicks Go (Paynter) and Essential Quality (Tapit). Cox's runners racked up a North American leading $31,832,345 in earnings last season, taking 269 trips to the winner's circle from 1025 starters (26%). 

Iowa's Prairie Meadows, which is set to begin its 2022 live racing season Friday, May 13, will see an average 5% increase in purses across the board. The 84 Thoroughbred racing days will be interspersed with Quarter Horse racing, which will see that breed's purses raised by up to 25%. The Thoroughbred purse structure includes a total of 26 stakes worth an estimated $2 million, highlighted by the Iowa Festival of Racing July 8-9. Last year's edition of the $300,000 GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. during the Festival was won...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Erin Fisher of Harper Ridge Thoroughbreds. "All my horses are crossed with stallions that I feel will throw appealing and sound horses that can provide second and third careers off the track and provide longevity to the breed," said Fisher. "I look for soundness and attitude with the idea that my foals can have long futures in any discipline after racing." APPEALING WAY (m, 8,...

It was an eventful few months for three-time Eclipse champion jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Shortly after scoring a hat trick of victories at the Breeders' Cup, Ortiz was suspended 30 days for careless riding at Aqueduct. Upon his return, the 29-year-old picked up where he left off at Gulfstream, piloting winners left and right and over the weekend, added two more seven-figure Grade I wins to his trophy collection with victories in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. on back-to-back winner Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and Pegasus World Cup...

HALLANDALE, FL--Heading into Saturday's Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream, it wasn't much of a stretch to think that trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. could walk away the winners of both Pegasus features of the afternoon. However, considering the obstacles facing them, one had to concede that it might be a bit too tall of an order. The GI Pegasus World Cup Turf contender Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) was coming off a massive layoff, 239 days to be exact, and Life Is Good (Into Mischief), while freakishly...

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner and likely Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) was named Top Midlantic-Bred of 2021 in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred Poll. It's the second straight year he's earned Top Midlantic-Bred honors. "To see him win this award not once but twice is incredible," said Sabrina Moore, who along with her mother Angie, bred Knicks Go in Maryland. "It's been an amazing journey, and I'm so grateful for it." "We are so proud that Knicks Go has been recognized for this...

When a racetrack musters a $3-million purse for a featured event, the hope is that racing's stars will attend the big dance. And this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. certainly succeeded in attracting two of the biggest names--Knicks Go (Paynter) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief)--in the American handicap division. Knicks Go, a 2 3/4-length winner in last year's Pegasus World Cup, finished fourth in the G1 Saudi Cup and GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. before reeling off four-straight wins, including the GI Whitney S. and in...

All good things must come to an end, they say, so on Friday Sabrina Moore, who co-bred the horse recently named the 2021 Longines World's Best Racehorse, boarded one last flight to watch Knicks Go (Paynter) make his final career start in the GI Pegasus World Cup before he begins stud duty at Taylor Made Farm. Foaled at the Moores' GreenMount Farm in Reisterstown, Maryland, Knicks Go has taken his doting breeder to winner's circles most only dream of reaching. The story of a young horsewoman breeding a champion racehorse...

HALLANDALE, FL--During Tuesday's Pegasus World Cup Invitational post-position draw in the Sport of Kings Theatre at Gulfstream Park Tuesday, the stage was set for what is shaping up to be another intriguing renewal of Pegasus World Cup Invitational, including the PWC Turf and the newest addition to the World Cup series, the Filly and Mare Turf Invitational, which replaces the GIII Marshua's River S. Heading Saturday's Pegasus card is the nine-furlong main-track test for older horses, led by defending champion Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) and WinStar Farm and...