Knicks Go adds to sireline’s Breeders’ Cup success story

Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Knicks Go continued to extend the legacy of a sireline that has had its fair share of success in the Breeders’ Cup over the decades.

Knicks Go is a son of WinStar Farm stallion Paynter, a Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the 2012 Belmont Stakes who endeared himself to fans by overcoming a serious illness to resume racing. Paynter, in turn, is by Frank Stronach’s homebred Awesome Again, who defeated a star-studded field that included champions Skip Away and Silver Charm to win the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Awesome Again, who died last December, sired four Breeders’ Cup winners – 2004 Classic winner Ghostzapper, 2004 Juvenile winner Wilko, 2006 Distaff winner Round Pond, and 2007 Distaff winner Ginger Punch. He also displayed his ability to impart stamina by siring 2013 Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow and 2019 Belmont winner Sir Winston.

It is the brilliant Ghostzapper for whom Awesome Again is best known. The fellow Adena homebred emulated his sire with a Classic victory, leading all the way for a three-length victory in a track-record 1:59.02 for the mile and a quarter at Lone Star Park. The victory secured him a Horse of the Year title. Knicks Go drew comparisons to that relative by leading wire to wire at Del Mar, with his 2 3/4-length victory coming in 1:59.57, just .46 second off Candy Ride’s track record. He is a virtual certainty to be voted Horse of the Year.

“It’s funny you ask about Ghostzapper, because I was a big fan of him,” Knicks Go’s trainer Brad Cox said. “I think the speed [Knicks Go] has, he’s built for American racing on the dirt. That’s what he’s done, and I’m hopeful that he’ll pass that on to his offspring.”

Knicks Go, who will enter stud at Taylor Made Farm in 2022, will look to join the likes of Awesome Again, Ghostzapper, Paynter, and Oxbow as a successful sire. Ghostzapper, who now stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, is the sire of 13 Grade 1/Group 1 winners, including this year’s Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide and past Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Judy the Beauty.

Knicks Go is the top career earner for Paynter, who is also the sire of Grade 2 winner Lazy Daisy and Grade 3 winners Harpers First Ride and Ms Peintour.

In addition to being by Awesome Again, Paynter has ties to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the bottom side of his pedigree. His dam, Tizso, is a full sister to Tiznow, the only two-time winner of the Classic. The same female family and pedigree cross produced Oxbow – the sire of Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie. This year’s Kentucky Derby thirdplace finisher and Belmont runner-up, Hot Rod Charlie was fourth to Knicks Go in the Classic.

Two winners for Maryland

Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Knicks Go and Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West gave Maryland two Breeders’ Cup winners last week at Del Mar.

Aloha West captured the Sprint by a nose, a few hours before Knicks Go scored his second Breeders’ Cup win in the Classic. He won the Dirt Mile in 2020.

Knicks Go became the third Maryland-bred to win the Classic, joining Concern (1994) and the legendary Cigar (1995).

Overall, six Maryland-breds have now won Breeders’ Cup races, with the others being Safely Kept in the 1990 Sprint and Sharing in the 2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Knicks Go, a 5-year-old son of Kentucky stallion Paynter, was bred and raised at the Moore family’s Greenmount Farm in Glyndon, Md. The horse is out of the Outflanker mare Kosmo’s Buddy, who made four appearances on the Maryland Million program, winning the 2008 Maryland Million Turf Sprint Handicap.

Knicks Go’s breeder, Angie Moore, sold the colt for $40,000 as a weanling at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. He was later purchased by the Korea Racing Authority for $87,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.

Aloha West was bred by the late Robert Manfuso and partner Katy Voss, a Laurel Parkbased trainer, at their Chanceland Farm in West Friendship, Md. The 4-year-old by Kentucky sire Hard Spun is out of the Speightstown mare Island Bound, a Grade 3 winner campaigned by Manfuso.

Aloha West sold for $160,000 to Gary and Mary West as a Keeneland September yearling, then was privately purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners early in his career.

Into Mischief chases record

Reigning leading sire Into Mischief and rising star Gun Runner both sired Breeders’ Cup winners, and exit last week with stallion records in sight before the end of 2021.

Into Mischief is the sire of dazzling Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good. The Spendthrift Farm stallion also saw his Eclipse Award champion daughter Gamine finish third in her defense of the Filly and Mare Sprint. As of Monday morning, those performances had helped push Into Mischief’s 2021 earnings to $21,827,179. He is only $678,906 away from his own single-season earnings record for a North American sire of $22,506,085, established last year.

Remarkably, Into Mischief has kept on pace to break his own record despite missing a dominant horse such as his chief earner from 2020, Horse of the Year Authentic, who accounted for more than $7.1 million in earnings. Into Mischief’s top earner this season, with more than $1.5 million, is Mandaloun, who has not started since July.

Horse of the Year Gun Runner, who stands at Three Chimneys Farm, was represented by two first-crop starters on the Breeders’ Cup Friday program. His daughter Echo Zulu rolled to her third straight Grade 1 victory in the Juvenile Fillies, and Pappacap was second in the Juvenile.

“A very special filly,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Echo Zulu. Asmussen also trained the filly’s sire for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-campaigns Echo Zulu with L and N Racing.

“She means so much to us,” Asmussen continued, “and the fact that she is the first crop of Gun Runner, everything that he did for us, it’s surreal that we’re back here at Del Mar for the second Breeders’ Cup when his crowning moment was the Breeders’ Cup here in 2017.”

Gun Runner is leading not only the freshman sire list, but also the overall 2-year-old sire list, with earnings of $3,521,956 as of Monday morning. He is just $110,358 shy of Uncle Mo’s earnings record for a North American freshman, $3,632,314 earned in 2015.