A variety of elements are mixed into the Horse of the Year award.
Knicks Go checked all of those boxes.
The son of Payer won three of America’s wealthiest and most prestigious races for older men in 2021: the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and the Whitney Stakes (G1). ).
He has traveled abroad to face international competition.
He won five of the seven races and made $7,324,140.
And he showed off “Year” of the Year Horse of the Year as his illustrious campaign ran from January to November with a bookend tier 1 big win.
All of which made it no surprise that when the Horse of the Year for 2021 was announced on February 10 at the Eclipse awards ceremony, it was Knicks Go by the Korean Racing Authority that was introduced.
Coach Brad Cox said: “He was the real horse of the year. “It started in January with victory in the Pegasus World Cup and went through November when he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and won the championship. It was a great year. It was not a campaign. lasted half a year or a year that he defaulted to winning the prize because no one else had real proof. There was a great group of horses this year.”
In becoming the first Maryland stallion of the year since the peerless, invincible, invincible Cigar in 1995-96, the Knicks Go was in top form at the start and end of the year, taking the win. won the Pegasus and then the Classic by decisively and identically by 2 3/4 lengths in a remarkable testament to his consistency and endurance.
Cox talks about a 6-year-old gray horse bred by Angie Moore from the Outflanker Mare Kosmo’s best friend. “We had (Godolphin’s) Necessary quality in our stables who ran for Horse of the Year and he had an amazing year but Knicks Go came forward and was able to take three #1s at the top level. “
The Korea Racing Authority, the only racing governing body in Korea, bought Knicks Go as a wish in hopes of finding a young horse that could succeed on the track and then help strengthen the bloodline in South Korea. They get more than that. Now retired after a second run last month in Pegasus, Knicks Go notched two Breeders’ Cup wins and making $9,258,135 in 25 races, a career Horse of the Year will move into the future. his cross as a male in Kentucky for Taylor Made Stallions.
“Brad has done a tremendous job with Knicks Go and Knicks Go has done more than we expected in his career. We wanted another horse like him, but we knew it would be. difficult to do,” said Jun Park, racing director for the KRA.
When Knicks Go became popular in the US, he was already a much-needed rock star for racing fans in Korea.
“During the pandemic in Korea, people couldn’t race, so being able to watch Knicks Go in the US and celebrate his win is great news for them and helps cheer them up. “, said Park. “They now have a display of his winning titles there and have extended their display period until March.”
You pay KRA $87,000 to purchase Knicks Go from Woods Edge Farm shipment at Keeneland’s September 2017 Promotion. It was originally purchased by Northface Bloodstock for $40,000 from Bill Reightler’s shipment at the November 2016 Breeding Stock Sale in Keeneland.
In 2nd place for the KRA and coach Ben Colebrook, Knicks Go had a nasty 70-1 win in Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and finished second in the Sentient Jets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) for home 2 year old champion Game winner .
He finished his junior season playing at the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) 3-1, but on a sloppy track he chased from second place in the period. beginning and faded into 11th place in a tough start to performance.
As a 3-year-old, he hadn’t won in eight starts while placing only two, prompting the KRA to move him to Cox’s barn for the 2020 season. There, he’s not only returned to top form. , which he eventually reached new and unexpected heights in the sport’s top races.
Two split wins in the allowance option claimants led to an easy win in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and a Knicks Go spot for his championship season.
He started 2021 at Pegasus January 23, where he scored by 2 3/4 length as a 6-5 favorite.
He then traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Cup and took the lead by Quack and on Wednesday.
On his return to the United States, Knicks Go was fielded as a 4-5 pick at Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) but faded to fourth after an early pace setup.
Cox theorized that the Met Mile Knicks Go’s one-way distance wasn’t appropriate, and he was proven right when the 1st multiple-place winner returned to the route races and went 10 1/4 degrees. long under regular driver Joel Rosario in Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) and then hit 4 1/2 the length at the prestigious Whitney at Racecourse Saratoga pass the men’s finals Maxfield and the winner of the Met Mile Silver status .
As a warm-up to the World Championship, Knicks Go advanced to a four-time win in the Lukas Classic (G3) at Churchill Downs.
That set the stage for a massive showdown later in the year in the $5.4 million Classic, in which Knicks Go faces the top 3-year-olds, Essential Quality, Medina Spirit and Hot Rod Charlie as well as the winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) Max Player .
Take the first place in the 1/4 mile test at Del Mar Under Rosario’s lead, the Knicks Go passed its first test at 10 furs in dazzling fashion. He never looked back after his quick break and set up the quick fractions as: 45.77 and 1: 10.04. At the front by length at the quarter-post, he kicked off seven of his opponents and extended his lead in the race, winning 2 3/4 lengths over Medina Spirit while crossing the ropes. in the 1:59.57 formation.
“I’m extremely pleased with the result today. It was a tough time when he was 3 years old, but we got through a tough year and then turned around and then he became an uncle. special horse,” said Jin Woo Lee, senior manager of the KRA, through an interpreter after the Classic. “And actually winning the Breeders’ Cup was the ultimate goal at the start of the year and we’ve achieved that.”
His second Breeders’ Cup win also gives Knicks Go big wins at the start and end of the 2021 season and removes all the drama surrounding the question of who will be the Horse of the Year.
“It’s been a big, big run and he’s had a great couple of years for us,” Cox said. “What he has achieved in 2021, with three 1st grade wins and the ability to win two of them in January and November, is unbelievable. He is truly the Horse of the Year. .”
