Trainer Mike Maker sent out two horses for the $150,000 W. L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, and the two crossed the wire first and second in the 1 1/2-mile grass event for older horses.
Three Diamonds Farm's Tide of the Sea was victorious, fighting at the rail to hold off Paradise Farms' Temple by three-quarters of a length.
Maker also won the McKnight in 2017-19.
Following back-to-back allowance scores in Kentucky, Tide of the Sea made his stakes debut in the Dec. 12 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream, but was rank at the start, checked early, and wound up rallying from 10th to finish sixth. Back in the McKnight at 4-1 odds and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, 5-year-old English Channel horse this time set the pace with quarter-mile fractions of :24, :48.68, 1:12.57, and 1:36.81 through a mile. Succeedandsurpass stalked the pace in second, followed by Doswell and Temple.
Tide of the Sea enjoyed a 1 1/2-length lead through 1 1/4 miles, and while he held his frontrunning position, Succeedandsurpass did not. Temple advanced into third then chased his stablemate in second down the stretch. Though Temple provided a challenge, Tide of the Sea fought back on the inside to keep his stablemate at bay.
The time on firm turf was 2:24.57.
"His best races are in front when he gets loose comfortably," Gaffalione said of the winner. "He traveled great throughout and I just let him do his own thing. He finished up really well when (Temple) came up and challenged him. All credit goes to Mike and his team."
Temple finished another half-length ahead of Doswell. Sadler's Joy, Channel Cat , Sir Anthony, Succeedandsurpass, Clear Vision, Mirinaque, Sir Sahib, and Tintoretto completed the order of finish.
Tide of the Sea ($10) was bred by Juddmonte Farms in Kentucky out of the Empire Maker mare Routine, also dam of stakes-placed winners Module and Boule. Routine's last foal is Connagh's Quay, a 3-year-old Flintshire(GB) colt who was third in a maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs Jan. 1. She was reported bred back to Flintshire for the 2021 foaling season.
First campaigned by Juddmonte and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Tide of the Sea was purchased by Three Diamonds for $80,000 from Timber Town, agent for Juddmonte, at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Overall, he holds a 4-3-1 record from 10 starts and has earned $297,285.
