W. L. McKnight Stakes

Last updated
W. L. McKnight Stakes
Grade 3 race
Location Gulfstream Park
(2014–present)
Calder Race Course (1973–2013)
Inaugurated1973
Race type ThoroughbredFlat racing
Website www.gulfstreampark.com
Race information
Distance1½ miles (12 furlongs)
SurfaceTurf
TrackLeft-handed
QualificationFour years & older
PurseUS$200,000

The W. L. McKnight Stakes is an American Grade 3 Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. [1] Inaugurated in 1973 at Calder Race Course it remained there through 2013 when the track closed. In 2017 a race condition was changed from being open to horses age three and older to those who were four and older. A race on turf at a distance of a mile and one-half, due to safety concerns it was shifted from the turf course to the main dirt track in 1993, 2005, and 2013.

Contents

The race was named for William L. McKnight, the founder of Tartan Farms. [2] Prior to 2019, it was run as the W. L. McKnight Handicap.

Historical notes

Twilight Eclipse has the distinction of winning the McKnight Handicap back-to-back on two different racing surfaces. At Calder Race Course, the gelding won the race on grass in 2012 and in 2013 on dirt after it was switched from a soggy grass course to the dirt track. It was only the second time in his career that Twilight Eclipse had run on dirt. [3] [4]

In 1995, Flag Down set the race record that still stood when the Calder track closed. Flag Down was bred by Windfields Farm and raced by Allen Paulson who at the time was also racing the great future U. S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Cigar. [5]

Of its fifty-three runnings, no female horse has won the McKnight.

Records

Speed record:

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles)
Time
Win$
Gr.
2022Abaan5 Luis Saez Todd Pletcher Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners & Alex Daigneault1122:29.53$115,320G3
2021Tide Of The Sea5 Tyler Gaffalione Michael J. Maker Three Diamonds Farm1122:24.57$87,420G3
2020Spooky Channel5 Julien Leparoux Brian A. Lynch Terry Hamilton1122:26.16$116,560G3
2019 Zulu Alpha 6 Irad Ortiz Jr. Michael J. Maker Michael M. Hui1122:36.80$114,080G3
2018Oscar Nominated5 José Ortiz Michael J. Maker Ken & Sarah Ramsey 1122:30.08$119,040G3
2017Taghleeb6Tyler Gaffalione Michael J. Maker Michael M. Hui1122:25.90$115,320G3
2016Race not held
2015 Charming Kitten 5 John R. Velazquez Todd Pletcher Ken & Sarah Ramsey 1122:27.76$59,520G3
2014Divine Oath3 Javier Castellano Todd Pletcher Let's Go Stable (Kevin Scatuorchio & Bryan Sullivan)1122:34.25$57,040G3
2013 Twilight Eclipse 4 Jose Lezcano Thomas Albertrani West Point Thoroughbreds, Inc. (Terry Finley CEO)1122:23.66$75,175G3
2012 Twilight Eclipse 3 Manoel Cruz Thomas Albertrani West Point Thoroughbreds, Inc. (Terry Finley CEO)1122:26.71$90,210G2
2011Musketier9 Luis Saez Roger L. Attfield Stella Perdomo1122:28.25$90,520G2
2010Prince Will I Am3 Javier Castellano Michelle K. NiheiCasa Farms I (Susan A. Atkins)1122:38.40$93,000G2
2009 Cloudy's Knight 9 Rosemary Homeister Jr. Jonathan E. Sheppard S J Stables LLC (Shirley & Jarrold Schwartz)1122:27.63$88,350G2
2008 Presious Passion 5 Elvis Trujillo Mary E. HartmannPatricia A. Generazio1122:25.64$86,490G2
2007 Presious Passion 4 Elvis Trujillo Mary E. HartmannPatricia A. Generazio1122:26.13$115,320G2
2006Devil's Preacher3 Rafael Bejarano George R. WeaverR. A. Hill Stable (Randy Hill)1122:38.28$120,000G2
2005Meteor Storm6 Javier Castellano Wallace A. Dollase The Horizon Stable (M. Jarvis, G. Margolis, K. Smole, J. Conway)1122:25.91$120,000G2
2004Dreadnaught4 Jean-Luc Samyn Thomas H. Voss Trillium Stable (Douglas Joyce)1122:26.60$120,000G2
2003 Balto Star 5 John R. Velazquez Todd Pletcher Anstu Stables, Inc. 1122:24.87$120,000G2
2002Man From Wicklow5 Jerry D. Bailey Richard A. Violette Jr. Richard A. Violette Jr.1122:28.05$120,000G2
2001Profit Option6 Mark Guidry Kenneth E. HoffmanMark Conway, K. E. Hoffman, Team Canonie, Inc.1122:27.95$90,000G2
2000A Little Luck6 Mike E. Smith Barclay Tagg Kathleen Crompton1122:29.01$90,000G2
1999Wicapi7 Cornelio Velásquez Joseph G. CalascibettaAcclaimed Racing Stable (Michael R. Berry)1122:26.28$90,000G2
1998Wild Event5 Shane Sellers Louis M. Goldfine Arthur I. Appleton 1122:26.93$90,000G2
1997Panama City3 Pat Day Patrick B. Byrne Robert Sangster & Joseph Lacombe1122:27.00$90,000G2
1996Diplomatic Jet4 Jorge F. Chavez James E. Picou Fred W. Hooper 1122:24.20$90,000G2
1995Flag Down5 José Santos Christophe Clement Allen E. Paulson 1122:24.00$90,000G2
1994-1Star of Manila3 Craig Perret Burk Kessenger Jr.New Phoenix Stable (Gary Drake)1122:28.40$90,000G2
1994-2Cobblestone Road5 José Ferrer Oliver E. EdwardsBruce Watkins & Stanley Stahl1122:27.80$90,000G2
1993Antartic Wings5 Rene Douglas Michael LermanSandy Price1122:32.40$60,000G2
1992Bye Union Avenue6 Rene Douglas Reynaldo H. Nobles Due Process Stable 1122:27.20$90,000G2
1991Stolen Rolls5Pedro A. Rodriguez Lawrence W. Jennings Esquire Farms1122:27.00$60,000G2
1990 Drum Taps 5 José Santos Neil J. Howard William S. Farish III 1122:29.80$60,000G2
1989Mataji4Douglas Valiente Happy Alter Alters Racing Stable1122:25.60$90,000G2
1988All Sincerity4Constantino HernandezAngel M. MedinaAlmost Heaven Stable, Inc.1122:25.40$120,000G2
1987 Creme Fraiche 6 Eddie Maple Woody Stephens Brushwood Stable (Elizabeth Moran)1122:27.00$120,000G2
1986 Flying Pidgeon 5 José Santos Luis Olivares Constance Daparma & Marjan Stable, Inc.1122:39.60$120,000G2
1985-1Jack Slade4Gerland GalitanoDavid C. KassenAndrew Adams1122:26.20$69,900G2
1985-2 Flying Pidgeon 5 José Santos Luis Olivares Constance Daparma & Marjan Stable, Inc.1122:25.80$70,800G2
1984-1Open Call6 Jorge Velásquez Robert J. Reinacher Jr. Greentree Stable 1122:30.20$63,755G2
1984-2 Nijinsky's Secret 5 José Vélez Jr. Kent H. Stirling Hedley McDougald 1122:31.20$63,675G2
1983Current Blade6 Jerry D. Bailey John P. Campo Buckland Farm 112 ±2:29.20$70,020G2
1982-1Ghazwan6Constantino HernandezLeonard ImperioBuckram Oak Farm (Mahmoud Fustok)1122:28.80$61,920G2
1982-2Russian George5 Miguel A. Rivera Jean Cruguet Sea Salt Farm, Inc.1122:29.80$61,320G2
1981-1El Barril5 Jacinto Vásquez Angel A. Penna Jr. Walnut Hill Farm1122:28.40$51,630G3
1981-2Buckpoint5 Jerry D. Bailey J. Bert Sonnier Owen Helman1122:28.00$52,230G3
1980-1Old Crony5 Don Brumfield Edward I. Kelly Sr. Bwamazon Farm (Millard A. Waldheim)118 ±1:48.40$35,565G3
1980-2Drum's Captain5 Jeffrey Fell Leonard ImperioBuckram Oak Farm (Mahmoud Fustok)118 ±1:48.00$34,875G3
1979Bob's Dusty5Richard DePass William E. Adams Robert N. Lehmann118 ±1:48.00$55,800G3
1978Practitioner5Jesus S. RodriguezLeo Sierra Dogwood Stable 118 ±1:48.00$56,520G3
1977Hall of Reason5 Mickey Solomone Dukas "Duke" DavisMalcolm Woldenberg118 ±1:47.20$52,200G3
1976Toonerville3 Gene St. Leon Norman St. LeonFrank & Mike Ryan & Norman St. Leon118 ±1:44.60$55,800G3
1975Snurb5 Gene St. Leon Reed M. Combest B.L.T. Stable (Art Bruns, et al.)118 ±1:46.00$37,800 LR
1974Shane's Prince5 Eddie Maple Frank J. McManusRed Hand Stable118 ±1:46.00$35,700
1973Getajetholme4Joseph E. Imparato J. Bert Sonnier Ralph Sessa118 ±1:47.20$38,700

Related Research Articles

Cigar (horse) American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Cigar, was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic and was the 1995 and 1996 American Horse of the Year. During his distinguished career he won 16 consecutive races, became the leading money earner in racing history, and was later inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame.

Saratoga Race Course Horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the US. In 1857 the Empire Race Course was opened on an island in the Hudson River near Albany, but was in operation only a short time.

Calder Casino

Calder Casino is a casino located in Lake Lucerne, Miami Gardens, Florida. It includes slots, electronic table games, and bingo.

Gulfstream Park is a racetrack and county-approved casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida. During its annual meet, spanning December through October, it is among the most important venues for horse racing in the United States.

The Donn Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1959 through 2016 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. A race for horses age four and older, it was contested on turf from inception through 1964 at a distance of a mile and one-half. From 1965 onwards it was raced on dirt at a mile and one-eighth with the exception of 1976 when the distance was set at seven furlongs.

The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race, by invitation for four-year-olds and older over a distance of one and three-sixteenth miles on the turf track, held annually in late January or early February at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event currently carries a purse of $1,000,000.

The La Prevoyante Stakes, until 2019 the La Prevoyante Handicap, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida. The race is open to fillies and mares, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on turf. The Grade III race currently carries a purse of $200,000.

The San Luis Rey Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Held during the third week of March, the Grade III event is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf. The race normally begins on Santa Anita's downhill chute; from this position horses race down the hill and cross the dirt track before running one complete lap of the main turf course.

William I. "Bill" Mott is an American horse trainer, most notable for his work with Cigar. Mott earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1995 and 1996. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1998 at the age of 45, becoming the youngest thoroughbred trainer ever inducted. Mott started training thoroughbreds at age 15 and won the South Dakota Futurity with Kosmic Tour before he was out of high school. He worked his way up the ranks by becoming first an exercise rider, then an assistant trainer for Hall of Fame Trainer Jack Van Berg. In 1976, Mott, trainer Frank Brothers, and a stable crew guided Van Berg's horses through the wins at Sportsman's, Hawthorne and Arlington Park race tracks in Chicago. They were so successful that Van Berg was named leading trainer at Arlington Park and leading trainer in the Nation with 496 wins in 1976, a record that stood until Steve Asmussen broke it in 2003 with 555 wins. Asmussen broke his own record in 2008 and 2009. Mott worked as an assistant trainer for Van Berg for three years before striking out on his own in 1978.

Lure was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was best known for winning back to back Breeders' Cup Miles in 1992 and 1993. He began his career racing on dirt, and won the Gotham Stakes while on the Triple Crown trail. After losing his next two races though, his trainer decided to try him on the turf. After the switch, Lure won nine stakes races, three of them Grade I, and retired with earnings of over $2.5 million. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Memorial Day Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1971 through 2014 at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens, Florida. Held on Memorial Day, it was an ungraded stakes race that had earned Grade III status in 2002–2007 and 2009–2010. The race was open to horses age three and older and was last raced on dirt over a distance of 1+116 miles.

The Violet Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Inaugurated in 1977, the current Listed race is open to fillies and mares age three and older and is raced on turf over a distance of 1+116 miles. First run at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it had its final running there in 2009. Not run in 2010, it was picked up by the Monmouth Park track in 2011 and as such was able to maintain its Grade 3 status.

Bowl Game (1974–2006) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred in Kentucky by Greentree Stud and raced under the same Greentree Stable banner as his owner. He finished racing with a record of 11-6-5 in 23 starts with career earnings of US$907,083. Bowl Game Creek was best known for his wins in the grade one Washington, D.C. International Stakes, the grade one Man o' War Stakes and the grade two Dixie Handicap. In 1979 he became the only horse ever have won all four prestigious turf races of the United States. That same year he was named the country's top grass equine by being voted 1979 American Champion Male Turf Horse honors.

Soaring Softly was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whose biggest win came in the 1999 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. She originally raced on dirt, with limited success. Switched to turf at age four, she won seven of eight starts and was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse.

He's A Smoothie was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion and Hall of Fame racehorse who set track records on both dirt and turf. Bred and raced by William R. Beasley, his sire was the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Round Table. His dam was Ratine, a daughter of Bahram, the Aga Khan's 1935 British Triple Crown champion. A successful sire of two British Classic winners, Bahram was purchased in 1940 by an American syndicate led by Alfred G. Vanderbilt II, who brought him to stand at stud in Maryland.

Itsmyluckyday American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Itsmyluckyday is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Itsmyluckyday is a multiple graded stakes winner who finished second in the 2013 Preakness Stakes to Oxbow and won the Woodward Stakes in 2014.

Honor Code is a Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Kentucky, USA. He was sired by A.P. Indy, son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and out of mare Weekend Surprise, who was sired by another Triple Crown winner: Secretariat. His dam is Serena's Cat, a granddaughter of Hall of Famer Serena's Song. Honor Code is known for his running style, in which he falls far behind the field early and closes with a rush to the wire.

Big Blue Kitten is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who specialises in turf races. Unraced as a juvenile, he finished third on his debut in 2011 and then went on a five race winning streak, culminating in a victory in the Grade II National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes. After winning one minor race as a four-year-old he emerged as a top-class turf performer in 2013 when his wins included the United Nations Stakes and the Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes. His only win of consequence in 2014 came in the Lure Stakes but he returned to his best as a seven-year-old in 2015 winning the Fort Marcy Handicap, a second United Nations Stakes and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes. Apart from his victories he finished second in the Arlington Million and third in the Breeders' Cup Turf. His performances earned him the title of American Champion Male Turf Horse for 2015.

Mecke was an American Thoroughbred racehorse purchased for $40,000 who retired having earned more than $2.4 million dollars while winning two Grade 1 stakes on grass and equaling a track record time in another Grade 1 race on dirt.

References

  1. "Stakes Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. "Virginia McKnight Binger of Tartan Farms Dead". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. "Twilight Eclipse takes McKnight". ESPN. 2012-11-24. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  4. "Calder: Twilight Eclipse unfazed by McKnight's switch to main track". Daily Racing Form. 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  5. "Horse Racing Notes". Los Angeles Times . 1995-12-17. Retrieved 2020-06-14.