Kentucky Derby 2015 - Itsaknockout Pedigree Profile

 

ITSAKNOCKOUT got knocked about in a controversial edition of this year’s Fountain of Youth, yet earned the victory upon disqualification of Upstart. That one crossed the finish line first, but veered into Itsaknockout twice from left handed whipping.  Frammento  got up for third, a neck in front of a tiring Frosted. The final time for the 1 1/16 mile race was a glacial 1:46.28, the second slowest clocking of the race since 1954.    

 

 

ITSAKNOCKOUT (Lemon Drop Kid - Stormy B, by Cherokee Run) was bred in Kentucky by Brookfield Stud. He attracted $130,000 at the 2012 Keeneland November Sale as a weanling and was re-sold at the 2013 Fasig Tipton August auction for $350,000 to Starlight Racing. Todd Pletcher has trained the son of Lemon Drop Kid to an unbeaten 3-3-0-0 ($287,360) record. With his victory in the Fountain of Youth, Itsaknockout received 50 Kentucky Derby 2015 qualifying points.  

 

Lemon Drop Kid showed flashes of brilliance as a two year old, winning the Belmont Futurity and placing in the Champagne Stakes.  He started to put it all together as a three year old with a surprise upset in the Belmont Stakes over an injured Charismatic.  Lemon Drop Kid followed up with a second place finish in the Jim Dandy Stakes before capturing the Travers Stakes.  As a four year old, Lemon Drop Kid strung together a four race win streak in the Brooklyn, Suburban and Whitney Handicaps and Woodward Stakes before going off form in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Breeders Cup Classic.  Despite those defeats, Lemon Drop Kid earned the designation as 2000 Champion Older Horse.

 

 

LEMON DROP KID (Kingmambo - Charming Lassie, by Seattle Slew)

Race record: 24-10-3-3 ($3,245,370)

2000 Champion Older Horse

 

Career Highlights:

1^st – Belmont Stakes (G-1) 1 ½ miles

1^st – Travers Stakes (G-1) 1 ¼ miles

1^st – Whitney Handicap (G-1) 1 1/8 miles

1^st – Woodward Stakes (G-1) 1 1/8 miles

1^st – Belmont Futurity (G-1) 1 mile

1^st – Brooklyn Handicap (G-2) 1 1/8 miles

1^st – Suburban Handicap (G-2) 1 ¼ miles

 

A son of the Classic/Solid Chef de Race Kingmambo and out of a mare by Brilliant/classic Chef de Race Seattle Slew, Lemon Drop Kid is noted for passing along stamina to his offspring.  His progeny are typically late-developing youngsters who are proficient over a variety of surfaces.  Lemon Drop Kid has sired twenty stakes winners at 1 ¼ miles or farther, including Citronnade, Richard’s Kid, Hangover Kid and Juniper Pass.

 

Stormy B didn’t make it to the track until May of her three year old season. She raced for one year at the maiden/allowance level.  The mare’s sole victory came in a one mile dirt maiden race, however, she placed at six furlongs on the dirt and at a mile on the turf. Stormy B retired with a 6-1-1-2 ($24,140) race record.

 

As a broodmare, Stormy B bore five foals, three of racing age.  Besides Grade 2 winner Itsaknockout, she foaled his half brother Storm Power (Tiz Wonderful), a multiple stakes winning miler at Turf Paradise.  A half sister by Arch has won one of five attempts. Stormy B was barren in 2013, but she has an unnamed Flatter yearling and a new 2015 Alternation foal, both colts.

 

Stormy B is a half sister to the graded stakes winning turf router Rush Bay, winner of the 1 ½ mile Nijinsky Stakes (G-2) and 1 1/8 mile Jefferson Cup (G-3).  Stormy B is also a half sister to Miss Inclined who placed third in three ungraded stakes at Woodbine ranging from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. Itsaknockout’s second dam Seoul (Deputy Minister - Nomo Robbery, by No Robbery) was an allowance class winner at 1 1/8 miles over dirt and turf, competing mainly at Churchill and Keeneland. She earned $107,776 in seven starts.  Itsaknockout’s third dam Nomo Robbery (No Robbery - Pass the Basket, by Buckpasser) was a stakes placed sprinter.  Her most accomplished foals were the turf veterans Chorwon and Yukon Robbery.  Nomo Robbery is also the grand-dam of 2012 Kentucky Oaks heroine Believe You Can.

 

 

 

Itsaknockout’s damsire Cherokee Run is noted for passing along speed attributes to his progeny and to the offspring of his daughters.  The Champion Sprinter of 1994 was successful in graded stakes from six furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. As a broodmare sire, Cherokee Run is represented by only one stakes winner at both 1 1/8 miles and 1 ¼ miles – the Japanese Group 1 winner Hokko Tarumae, who incidentally, is by King Kamehameha, a son of Kingmambo.  One of Cherokee Run’s grandsons, Rattlesnake Bridge, placed at 1 ¼ miles in the 2011 Travers, but overall, the stallion offers plenty of speed to his descendants.  Cherokee Run is also the damsire of this year’s Kentucky Derby hopeful Bayerd, runner-up in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn.

 

CHEROKEE RUN (Runaway Groom - Cherokee Dame, by Silver Saber)

Race record: 28-13-5-5 ($1,531,818)

1994 Champion Sprinter

 

Career highlights:

1^st – Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G-1) 6F

1^st – Dwyer Stakes (G-2) 1 1/8 miles

1^st - Frank J. De Francis Mem. (G-2) 6F

2^nd – Preakness Stakes (G-2) 1 3/16 miles

2^nd – Metropolitan Handicap (G-1) 1 mile

3^rd – Carter Handicap (G-1) 7F

3^rd – Vosburgh Stakes (G-1) 7F

 

 

Itsaknockout’s second damsire Deputy Minister was Champion Two Year Old and Horse of the Year in the U.S. and Canada.  He was a top twenty leading sire for many years and is considered one of the best broodmare sires of his generation. The grandson of Northern Dancer won from five furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. His daughters impart class, but their offspring tend to take on the attributes of their sires’ distance proclivities.

 

Lemon Drop Kid pairs well with daughters of Cherokee Run.  They’ve combined to produce eight starters, five winners, four of whom are blacktype earners of a combined $1,441,178.  The stakes winning offspring include African Violet, Donoharm and Kid Kate. Their distance scope is sprints to 1 1/16 miles.

 

Itsaknockout is a nicely balanced colt with an almost smooth topline (topline is the line from top of the mane to hindquarters).  His shoulder is deep with a slightly upright angle. He has a strong, but not overly developed hindquarter.  Itsaknockout has nice leg extension without wasted movement. His knee action is average and he doesn’t paddle.