G1-Winning Juvenile Knicks Go Tops Dec. 8 Stakes Nominations
G1-Winning Juvenile Knicks Go Tops Dec. 8 Stakes Nominations
Three Stakes Worth $275,000 in Purses for Maryland-Bred/Sired Horses
LAUREL, MD – Breeders’ Futurity (G1) winner Knicks Go and fellow stakes winners Our Braintrust, Scrap Copper and Follow the Dog are among 18 horses nominated to the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity Saturday, Dec. 8 at Laurel Park.
The seven-furlong Juvenile Futurity is joined on the program by the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, also at seven-eighths, and the $75,000 Howard & Sondra Bender Memorial for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. Each stakes is restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses.
Nominations for all three stakes closed Nov. 29, five days after Knicks Go finished 11th as the favorite after pressing the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs. KRA Stud Farm’s Knicks Go, trained by Ben Colebrook, has yet to race in the state where was bred by Angie Moore.
Knicks Go debuted with a front-running maiden special weight triumph July 4 at Ellis Park and has raced exclusively in stakes company since. After finishing fifth in the Sanford (G3) and third in the Arlington-Washington Futurity, the gray or roan son of Paynter was a 5 ½-length upset winner of the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) Oct. 6 at Keeneland at odds of 70-1.
Overlooked again in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Knicks Go contested the lead from the outset but had to settle for second, 2 ¼ lengths behind Game Winner, at odds of 40-1. Signalman, another length back in third, came back to win the Kentucky Jockey Club by a neck.
Our Braintrust has won each of his career starts but has not raced since powering up the rail to capture the 5 ½-furlong Tremont Stakes June 8 at Belmont Park. He won by the same three-quarter-length margin in his unveiling going 4 ½ furlongs May 3 at Laurel.
Kathleen Willier’s Scrap Copper has made all four of his starts at Laurel, most recently winning the six-furlong James F. Lewis III Stakes Nov. 10 to avenge a seventh-place finish in the Maryland Million Nursery Oct. 20, where he stumbled badly at the start. Second in the Lewis, Follow the Dog won the Nursery over Sky Magician and Outofthepark, who ran 2-3, respectively, and are also nominated.
Belial and Miss Philly Dilly, the second- and third-place finishers in the Maryland Million Lassie, return to headline nominees to the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship. Belial, Our Braintrust’s Cal Lynch-trained stablemate, returned to win a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Nov. 17, while Miss Philly Dilly was third in a six-furlong maiden special weight Nov. 23, both at Laurel.
No Mo Lady, winner of a one-mile optional claiming allowance Nov. 1 at Laurel; recent maiden winners Littlebitalily, Money Fromheaven and Nine Martinis; and Sip of Sunshine, a winner of three straight sprints over Laurel’s main track, are also prominent among nominees.
Grade 2 winner Still Having Fun and Linda Zang’s multiple stakes-winning homebred Lewisfield top the nominees for the Bender. Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing’s Still Having Fun closed steadily from far back to be third in the six-furlong Steel Valley Sprint over a sloppy track Nov. 19 at Mahoning Valley, his first time on the board since a dramatic win in the Woody Stephens (G2) June 9 at Belmont Park at odds of 13-1.
Lewisfield won the Not For Love and Maryland Million Sprint over Laurel’s main track this year and finished first in the Polynesian but was disqualified to second for interference. Five-for-eight lifetime at Laurel with two seconds, the 4-year-old Great Notion gelding was also third in the Maryland Sprint (G3) May 19 at legendary Pimlico Race Course.
Also among nominees are multiple stakes winners Greatbullsoffire, Sonny Inspired and Talk Show Man; Laki, second in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) Sept. 22 after being placed first in the Polynesian; Clubman, third in the Maryland Million Classic Oct. 20; and multiple stakes-placed Rockinn On Bye, an earner of more than $607,000 from 62 starts that was second last out in the six-furlong Fabulous Strike Stakes Nov. 21, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Lewisfield.
