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| Staff Writer |
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A superb edition of the UD$6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic is on tap on November 6, and the prospective field is a list of one sparkling star after the other. Leading the group is Knicks Go , who will try to get loose on the lead at Del Mar and run his rivals off their feet. It is a race brimming with speed horses, so Knicks Go getting to the front without receiving too much pressure is paramount.
Will the gray horse be able to carry his speed the full 10-furlong distance? He has never even attempted the distance and would have been a shoo-in if he tried to defend his title in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile earlier on the card. But after several wins at nine furlongs, trainer Brad Cox is opting to stretch out the son of Paynter in the Classic.
Based on pedigree, Knicks Go could go either way. He is a son of Paynter, who did run second in an edition of the 12-furlong Belmont Stakes diminished by the scratch of I’ll Have Another, but dam Kosmo’s Buddy was a sprinter, albeit a very quick and successful one.
Kosmo’s Buddy won five of 37 stars with 22 top-three finishes. Her stakes win include the Maryland Million Turf Sprint and the Crank It Up Stakes over 5 ½ furlongs. She is the daughter of the Danzig stallion Outflanker, which suggests even more speed. Kosmo’s Buddy has had four winners from five to race taking Knicks Go out of the picture and you have a smattering of wins at a mile or less, plus one victory at 1 1/16 miles.
Paynter, on the other hand, is brimming with Classic pedigree. His sire, Awesome Again , defeated an all-time brilliant group in the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), where the likes of Silver Charm, Swain, and Skip Away toiled behind him. Paynter’s dam Tizso is a full sister to the mighty Tiznow, who remains the only horse to win two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2000 and 2001. Aside from Paynter, Tizso’s progeny includes a host of sprinter/short route types, such as Kalookan Queen Handicap winner Tizakitty, and Tiz West , who did take the graded Cinema Handicap at nine furlongs.
However, pedigree may not matter when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. There aren’t too many 10 furlong races there, but in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Gun Runner went to the lead and ultimately cruised home more than two lengths in front. The 2021 TVG Pacific Classic winner, Tripoli, sat just off the lead before drawing away, and Maximum Security led every step in the same race in 2020. The speed at Del Mar carries, giving Knicks Go a very good chance as the race’s likely favorite, with Breeders’ Cup Classic odds somewhere around 5-2.
But he is far from the only Breeders’ Cup Classic contender. The second choice in the race around 7-2 should be his stablemate, Essential Quality . The top sophomore this year, Essential Quality did win last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. Since then, the son of Tapit has added the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Jim Dandy, and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. He was fourth in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite.
Medina Spirit is the horse that defeated him that day. After running second in both of his prep races, the Bob Baffert trainee won the Kentucky Derby, although that victory is now under scrutiny for testing positive for allegedly a skin rash cream. Regardless, Medina Spirit is currently the Kentucky Derby winner and has since come back to absolutely roll in both the Shared Belief Stakes—at Del Mar—and the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita in his first try against older runners. He will likely go off between 4-1 and 6-1.