Red Knight charges to record-breaking win in Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland
The Fall Meet at Keeneland continued Thursday with another dramatic finish in a stakes contest.
Red Knight navigated deftly through a crowd in the stretch and charged to a 2-length victory in the $150,000, Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes, setting a record in the 1 1/2-mile turf race with a time of 2:28.81. It was the eighth career victory and first in 2020 for the 6-year-old gelding trained by Bill Mott.
Breaking as the 2-1 favorite and ridden by James Graham, Red Knight was buried mid-pack through much of the race. Approaching the stretch, Graham steered Red Knight through traffic and made an outside move, then turned on the burners heading for home.
Red Knight paid $6.80, $4 and $3 for the win. It was a photo finish for the rest of the board, with 7-1 co-third choice Postulation nabbing second and 7-2 second choice Ziyad finishing third.
Kenny McCarthy, assistant to Bill Mott, praised Graham’s ride during an interview near the winner’s circle.
“A wonderful ride by James,” McCarthy said. “A great decision on the turn to split those horses and then really pick the horse up and finish strongly.”
Filly nabs Wednesday feature
Kentucky-bred Regal Beauty made an outside move in the stretch and charged to a three-quarters length victory in the $73,000 Mill Ridge for 3-year-old fillies Wednesday afternoon.
Trained by Bret Calhoun and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Regal Beauty covered the 6 furlongs on a fast main track in 1:11.19.
A daughter of Malibu Moon out of the Grade 1-winning mare Book Review, Regal Beauty’s record is now 3-2-1 in eight career starts. She earned $43,800 with the win to increase her earnings to $154,202.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 6:02 PM.
