Kentucky Derby 2019 Daily: Knicks Go's prep plans set

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 4 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.

Grade 1 winner Knicks Go is gearing up at Tampa Bay Downs for his next start on the 2019 Kentucky Derby trail, and trainer Ben Colebrook says Paynter colt is approaching his first work back since the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

“I gave him a little break and just put him in the round pen down here at Tampa, then walked him and we jogged him for a while,” Colebrook said. “Now he’s back galloping and he’ll work down at Tampa pretty shortly. We’re working backwards from the Sam F. Davis and try to use that as a prep for the Tampa Bay Derby.”

The Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes runs Feb. 9, followed by the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby a month later. The first prep pays 10 points to the winner, then increases to 50 for the next. Both races are run at 1 1/16 miles.

The final prep race in mind is the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, hosted at Colebrook’s Keeneland base on April 6. Points are worth 100, 40, 20 and 10 to the Top 4 finishers.

“He looks like he’s put on a lot of weight from 2 to 3 with a little bit of easy time, so it looks like I’ve got plenty to work with,” Colebrook said. “He’s always been kind of an overachiever, so we’ll get him to the Sam F. Davis and then we’ll go from there. But in a perfect world, I’d say he could run all three times.”

Knicks Go, a Maryland-bred son of Paynter, was bred by Angie Moore and was first bought for $40,000 as a weanling before KRA Stud Farm purchased him for $87,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He won on debut at Ellis Park and lost his next two starts, which pushed his odds to 70-1 in Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity (G1).

Under jockey Albin Jimenez, Knicks Go wired the field by 5 ½ lengths and earned the first Grade 1 for his trainer, jockey, owner, breeder and sire. Jimenez has been aboard Knicks Go since and will have the call in the Sam F. Davis.

The colt backed up his longshot performance up with a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile behind Game Winner and defeated Signalman both times. In the Kentucky Jockey Club, though, it was Signalman who broke through to win over a sloppy track while Knicks Go faded to 11th.

Colebrook said in hindsight, the three-week turnaround from Breeders’ Cup combined with a sloppy track could have kept Knicks Go from running his best.

“The fast pace and the sloppy track just was too much to overcome,” he said.

The trainer added Knicks Go’s plans could be adjusted if the Tampa track should come up sloppy, but so far, the colt has taken to his winter base.

“The barns are spacious and open and there’s a lot of grass areas near my barn anyway. They have access to round pens so the horses can get turned out and be outside,” Colebrook said. “The weather is obviously great and the surface to train on is fabulous. It’s a great place to winter and they do have a pathway to the Derby without having to ship around, and I think that’s probably a good thing, just keeping your horse in one place.

“That’s why I chose to stay close to home with him. We’ll just try to keep him happy through the winter, sound, and try to have him primed for spring.”

Super Screener says…

Mike Shutty, author of Horse Racing Nation’s Super Screener handicapping system, delivers quick thoughts on last weekend’s preps…

In regard to Code of Honor’s Mucho Macho Man Stakes defeat: “We warned that this was just a race to shake off the rust with bigger targets ahead. Connections were not going to and did not push this colt here, and he ran evenly throughout. One of our top win contenders, Mihos, got the job done on the stretch out by way of a perfect trip. Once again, the final time was just average.”

Later in the day, Coliseum also lost as the favorite in the Sham Stakes: “Coliseum was a huge disappointment as the odds-on favorite, which was the running theme this weekend. As he was doing in his morning works, he was pulling early with jockey Joe Talamo struggling to get this one to settle down. Once he did, the race was over. Fast horse, but going to need to mature quickly to have any chance of competing with this talented West Coast-based 3 year-old crop.”

Derby links

• Coming out of the last slew of prep races, we’ve got William Hill U.S.’ latest Kentucky Derby odds, and somewhat surprisingly, Coliseum remains a co-second choice.

• HRN columnist Laura Pugh graded out recent 3-year-old stakes with an eye toward which races will produce contenders that could succeed into the spring.

• Our latest Derby Radar entry updates a pair of Albaugh Family Stables runners now that their next-race plans — both Derby trail races — are set.  

• The Daily Racing Form followed up from Delta Downs’ Big Drama Stakes won by Six Shooter, who’s now a candidate for Oaklawn’s first prep, the upcoming Smarty Jones.

The works

Gun It — The $2.6 million Tapit colt, a member of Gun Runner’s family, broke his maiden last time but appeared plenty green. We’ll see what’s next. He returned to the work tab Monday for trainer Steve Asmussen, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Fair Grounds.

Tacitus — The first foal out of champion close hatches broke his maiden Nov. 10 for trainer Bill Mott and returned to work Sunday at the Palm Meadows Training Center with a three-furlong breeze in 38.60. Allowance options will be available at nearby Gulfstream Park.

Tax — Third in the Remsen, he bypassed the Jerome Stakes and is pointing to the Withers (G3) to open next month. The Danny Gargan-trained son of Arch drilled a half mile Monday in 48.77 seconds at Belmont Park.

Tight Ten — Possible for the Jan. 19 Lecomte (G3) in his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, this one has a steady work tab dating back to Dec. 2. Monday’s breeze for the Asmussen charge went in 1:00.80 for five furlongs.

In case you missed it…

Sunday’s Derby Daily Report focused on Sham Stakes winner Gunmetal Gray and rider Mike Smith’s thoughts on the colt as the distances lengthen this spring.