Rebounding from a 3-year-old season in which he lost all six of his starts, Silver Knott, re-energized this year at age 4 as a turf marathoner, seeks a third consecutive stakes triumph July 28 when he races in the $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course.
The Godolphin-owned Lope de Vega gelding is 2-for-2 this year, winning the April 20 Elkhorn Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland at 1 1/2 miles and the May 11 Man o' War Stakes (G2T) at 1 3/8 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack. The conditions of Sunday's Bowling Green mirror those of the Man o' War as a three-turn, 1 3/8-mile race on turf.
SILVER KNOTT opens up in the stretch to win the Grade 2 Man O' War Stakes with Flavien Prat up for Charlie Appleby & @godolphin! pic.twitter.com/zeMBkcBnzr
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) May 11, 2024
"Ever since he's been running in these long-distance races, he's found a new dimension," said jockey Flavien Prat, aboard for the earlier wins this year.
Prat, battling Irad Ortiz Jr., Tyler Gaffalione, and Dylan Davis for leading rider honors at the current Saratoga meet, calls Silver Knott "a pretty straightforward horse and you can put him pretty much wherever you want. Last time, we had some pace, so we got him covered up, and he showed a good turn of foot to win."
The 4-5 morning-line favorite, Silver Knott carries high weight of 124 pounds, spotting the opposition from 2-6 pounds apiece.
The bay gelding is trained by Charlie Appleby, a Brit who is 9-for-29 in American stakes races this year, dropped by grade 1 wins with Cinderella's Dream, Measured Time, and Master of The Seas.
A dual group 3 winner as a juvenile, Silver Knott nearly became a grade 1 winner in 2022 when beaten a nose finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Keeneland.
Ohana Honor—second, beaten 4 1/2 lengths, to Silver Knott in the Man o' War—finished in a dead heat for third behind Silver Knott's stablemate Measured Time in the June 8 Manhattan Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga in his most recent appearance.
Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey for owners West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Edward Hudson Jr., and Lynne Hudson, the 4-year-old Honor Code ridgling pursues his first stakes victory and breaks from post 1 under Kendrick Carmouche.
Also after his first stakes win is late-running comebacker Soldier Rising, who has hit the board in 11 stakes without a first-place finish. Christophe Clement trains.
Besides Silver Knott, the only graded stakes winner in the short field is the Mike Maker-trained Sugoi, who took the Louisville Stakes (G3T) this spring at Churchill Downs before a runner-up finish in the graded-quality Chorleywood Overnight Stakes there.
Saratoga Race Course, Sunday, July 28, 2024, Race 9Entries: Bowling Green S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Ohana Honor (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 118 Claude R. McGaughey III 7/2 2 2Silver Knott (GB) Flavien Prat 124 Charles Appleby 4/5 3 3Sugoi (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 122 Michael J. Maker 10/1 4 4English Conqueror (ON) Jose Lezcano 118 Darwin D. Banach 20/1 5 5Soldier Rising (GB) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Christophe Clement 4/1 6 6Strong Quality (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Mark E. Casse 10/1 7 7Strong Tide (IN) Luis Saez 118 Michael E. Lauer 15/1
