Oaklawn proves successful launching pad for McKnight
Trainer Norman McKnight saddled 16 winners to tie for seventh in his debut this season at Oaklawn Park, but it is the $292,750 spent to claim 18 horses that turned out to be the bigger news.
Most have flourished under McKnight’s care, particularly those racing on a different surface at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, which opened April 21 and where he led the standings for the first time in 2017. Oaklawn’s
2018 season ended on April 14.
Of the 16 claimed horses McKnight has run back, 14 have won. Overall, McKnight’s Oaklawn claims have won 48.9 percent of their starts, 22 of 45, and earned
$656,255 in American and Canadian currency. The bottom line looks even better since McKnight has lost seven of the horses through claims totaling $124,500.
McKnight went 2 for 2 with Oaklawn claims Friday at Woodbine, where he is the second-leading trainer with 61 victories, including 15 by horses he claimed in Hot Springs.
“Obviously, we really enjoyed Oaklawn when we were there,” McKnight said. “I think it’s a tremendous place to race. I think there’s a lot of good horse people there, and I was just lucky to get some things that worked out. They’re great horsemen and I’m not thinking that we did something that somebody else couldn’t do.
“I think a lot of it has to be credited to the different surface. A lot of these horses had never been on synthetic. It’s obviously moved them up. There’s no real mystery other than the old saying: ‘There’s horses for courses.’ I think this is the case here.”
McKnight has already hit several home runs, but none bigger than Decorated Soldier, who won Oaklawn’s $150,000 Northern Spur Stakes for 3-year-olds in
2016 for trainer Todd Pletcher. On behalf of Racer’s Edge, Inc. and Maxis Stable, McKnight claimed Decorated Soldier for $20,000 out of a fourth-place finish April 13 at Oaklawn. Decorated Soldier made two starts at the meeting for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who had claimed the gelding for $35,000 last summer at Saratoga.
Decorated Soldier has won 3 of 4 starts for his new connections — all over Woodbine’s Tapeta surface — including the Grade 3 $130,250 Seagram Cup Stakes on Aug. 12. Mirroring many of McKnight’s Oaklawn claims, Decorated Soldier was a first-off-the claim winner, won on the raise and won his first start after moving from dirt to a synthetic surface.
Decorated Soldier has earned
$162,220 at Woodbine after winning an allowance race May 19, running second for a $60,000 claiming price June 16, winning for a $60,000 claiming price July 21 and winning the Seagram Cup.
McKnight won a six-way shake, or blind draw, for Decorated Soldier, a gelded son of Proud Citizen.
“He hadn’t run on synthetic, which I thought might be a little move up there,” McKnight said. “He looked like a fairly sound horse at Oaklawn when we looked at him. We haven’t encountered any problems with him, if he had any in the past.”
McKnight said he’s targeting another synthetic stakes race, the $200,000 Presque Isle Mile Sept. 16 at Presque Isle Downs, for Decorated Soldier’s next start.
Other successful Oaklawn claims for McKnight include Olivia’s Uncle, for $12,500 on Feb.
17, and the classy older sprinter Abbaa, the trainer’s most expensive purchase at $35,000 on March 17.
Olivia’s Uncle won a starter-allowance race March 22 at Oaklawn in his first start for his new connections, a May 5 allowance race at Woodbine — the colt’s debut on a synthetic surface — and bankrolled $75,400. Abbaa, the winningest horse at the 2017 Oaklawn meeting, has earned almost $100,000 since being claimed by McKnight.
Abbaa, in his debut over a synthetic surface, won for a $60,000 claiming price April 28 at Woodbine, again for a
$60,000 claiming tag on the synthetic May 26 and finished fourth in the Grade
1 $250,000 Highlander Stakes on June 30 at Woodbine in his turf debut.
Another 2018 Oaklawn-raced horse, Wyatt’s Town, was a $50,000 claim by McKnight May
17 at Churchill Downs. He’s 2 for 2 for his new connections, winning a June 16 allowance race at Churchill Downs and the $104,800 King Corrie Stakes for 3-yearold sprinters July 28 at Woodbine in his synthetic debut. “I actually marked up the quick early success with a lot of these Oaklawn horses was essentially because they had a fitness edge over a lot of the local guys here,” McKnight said. “They’ve just done really, really well. Even after a couple, three starts, where everybody else has got their fitness, they’ve maintained and achieved great things.”
McKnight said he plans to return for the 2019 Oaklawn meeting that is scheduled to begin Jan. 25.