Knicks Go's penchant for getting and staying in front had many detractors, but not any more. His dominant performance in Saturday's Classic at Del Mar was his proof that he can take it long. The lion's share of the $6 million purse doesn't hurt. Here's how he did it.
... [+]In his blazing gate-to-wire victory in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Saturday evening, just under three lengths and pulling away from his nearest rival, Knicks Go ran through almost every pundit in racing’s doubts about his abilities to carry his speed the distance in the company of Medina Spirit and Essential Quality, who placed and showed, respectively. His winning time was a blistering 1:59.57, a very respectable entry into the Breeders’ books.
As most in the industry expected, it was very much Knicks Go’s race at the start, as he broke easily and assumed the lead into the first turn. Up the backstretch he seemed well within himself, a length or two ahead of, at times, some surprising also-ran names on his heels, Art Collector, for one, who was in second for about a second.... [+]Getty Images
For his part during these somewhat hot first fractions, the highly favored Essential Quality was, as per habit, steadily in contention if a shade more toward the back than his connections would arguably have liked him to be, which is to say, well down in fifth and sixth in the second half of a nine-horse field.
That bit of fun never happened. Instead, late in the turn for home and out into the stretch, Knicks Go slid a couple of lanes wide and, basically, floored the accelerator. Instead of having Knicks Go fade at this point, Medina Spirit and Essential Quality found themselves in the position of having to run him down, and in the face of Knicks Go’s late burst of speed, the project of running him down within the last furlong quickly became greater than either horse could handle.
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