Photo:Alex Evers / Eclipse Sportswire
Godolphin’s Silver Knott will look to run his win streak to three in the Grade 2, $250,000Bowling Green Stakes, a 1 3/8-mile, inner-turf test for older horses Sunday at 5:45 p.m. EDT at Saratoga.
The 4-year-old Lope de Vega gelding is trained by Charlie Appleby, who boasts a 28: 9-7-6 record in the U.S. this year led by Grade 1 wins with Cinderella's Dream in the Belmont Oaks Invitational, Measured Time in the Manhattan and Master of The Seas in the Maker’s Mark Mile.
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Silver Knott enters from a pair of Grade 2 wins stateside, taking the 1 1/2-mile Elkhorn in April at Keeneland ahead of a decisive score last out in the 1 3/8-mile Man o’ War at Belmont at the Big A when he was 4 1/2 lengths better than returning rival Ohana Honor. The winning effort garnered a career- and field-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.
Flavien Prat, who, with Irad Ortiz Jr., shares the Spa meet with 12 wins, was aboard for both those scores and retains the mount Sunday from post 2 aboard Silver Knott, who will carry 124 pounds.
"He's 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," said Prat, who already has five stakes wins at the meet topped by a Grade 1 score with Whitebeam in the Diana.
Prat said Silver Knott has responded well to stretching out in distance for his 4-year-old campaign.
“Ever since he's been running in these long-distance races, he's found a new dimension,” Prat said.
Silver Knott was winless in six sophom*ore starts, although he picked up a Grade 1 placing when a frontrunning third in the 1 1/8-mile Hollywood Derby in December at Del Mar.
A dual Group 3 winner as a juvenile, Silver Knott captured the seven-furlong Solario at Sandown Park and the one-mile Autumn at Newmarket. Bred in Great Britain by St Albans Bloodstock, Silver Knott is the first progeny out of the Group 1-winning Nathaniel mare God Given. Nathaniel is a half-sister to four-time Group 1-winning multimillionaire Postponed.
Ohana Honor, in post 1, with 118 pounds including Kendrick Carmouche, will look to turn the tables on Silver Knott as he searches for his first graded win in his third attempt.
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 boasts a record of 4: 1-1-2 this year.
Ohana Honor was a front-running winner of a 1 1/2-mile allowance in April at Keeneland when running the stayers' distance on turf for the first time. He followed with a stalking second to Silver Knott in the Man o’ War, saving ground before tipping out and making a late run to earn place honors by a neck over multiple Grade 1 and Group1 winner Nations Pride.
Last out the $430,000 purchase from the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale dead-heated for third with Far Bridge in the 1 3/16-mile Manhattan (G1) at Saratoga when finishing 2 1/4 lengths in back of victorious Measured Time.
Jason Blewitt, executive vice president of West Point Thoroughbreds, said Ohana Honor has shown marked improvement as a 4-year-old.
“It’s been a lot of fun seeing Shug and his team figure Ohana out and seeing the results," Blewitt said. "He couldn’t look any better physically, and I think he’s the classic Shug archetype. You’ve got a well-bred horse who was OK at 2, OK at 3, but now as a 4-year-old is just really coming into his own.
“I thought he ran big in the Man o’ War, and he ran even better in the Manhattan. To have a horse hit the board there in such a competitive field, that was the best group of horses on the turf since the Breeders’ Cup. He ran great, and I’m in the mindset that he’s going to keep raising the game up a notch.”
Ohana Honor, out of graded-stakes-winning Awesome Again mare Spacy Tracy, is a half-brother to dual Grade 3 winner Victim of Love, Grade 2 winner Benner Island and multiple graded-stakes-placed High North.
The ultra-consistent Soldier Rising, in post 5 with 118 pounds including Jose Ortiz, will look to make the grade in his 13th attempt, having picked up six Grade 1 placings through a 21: 4-10-3 record and purse earnings of$1,304,997.
Trained by Christophe Clement for Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables and Michael Caruso, the 6-year-old Frankel gelding returns from an eight-month layoff. He was last seen closing from last of 11 to finish second by a neck to Master Piece in the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith (G2) on Nov. 11 at Aqueduct.
Soldier Rising has done much of his best running on the Spa turf, including a second in the 2021 Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) and a close third in the 2022 Sword Dancer (G1). He was a troubled seventh in this event last year when bumped and checked hard by Rebel’s Romance, who clipped heels and lost his rider.
Soldier Rising, out of the winning Pivotal mare Sahrawi, has trained steadily over the Oklahoma training turf at Saratoga for his return, including a half-mile breeze in 47.40 seconds July 19 under Jose Ortiz.
"He worked very good," Jose Ortiz said after the breeze. "I was getting on him last year, and I felt like he came back this year in great shape.”
Gary Barber and Kinsman Stable’s graded-stakes-placed Strong Quality, in post 6 with 122 pounds including Irad Ortiz Jr., will stretch out considerably for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.
The 5-year-old Quality Road dark bay has posted front-running wins on turf and dirt this year, taking the 1 1/16-mile, listed Colonel Bradley in January over the Fair Grounds green along with a hard-fought score in the one-mile, listed Knicks Go, a restricted dirt stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard.
Last out Strong Quality was no match for talented Measured Time in the Manhattan, dueling with the Appleby trainee through six furlongs before fading to last of eight.
Strong Quality has breezed back twice, including a five-furlong effort in company in 1:00.04 last Wednesday over the Spa main track. Casse said he is hopeful the versatile horse will meter his speed accordingly.
“Of course that's what we thought last time, and the Appleby horse went head-and-head with us and was a much better horse than we were,” Casse said. “I think he's doing better right now. He went into that race OK, and I think he's doing great right now.”
Casse won seven races across the continent Saturday, including a win at the Spa with Pounce in the Lake George (G3) and is tied for third in the Spa trainer standings with six wins.
He praised the tenacity of Strong Quality, a three-time turf winner and two-time dirt winner, for having won at distances as short as 7 1/2 furlongs and placing in races as long as 1 1/4 miles.
“He's just a talented horse. There's not a lot of horses like him,” Casse said. “War of Will was a bit like that. He could do either surface or any distance. He's just an inch from being a really good horse.
“He's had some issues. He quarter cracks on us some, so he hasn't had the healthiest foot. Right now it's really good.”
Paradise Farms and David Staudacher’s Sugoi, in post 3 with 122 pounds including Julien Leparoux, 122 pounds, has risen from claim to fame this year for trainer Mike Maker.
The 7-year-old Karakontie gelding has been claimed five times since March 2023, including for $25,000 out of a winning effort in February at Turfway Park that launched a four-race win streak. He was taken by current connections for $50,000 out of a claiming win on the main track in April at Keeneland and subsequently posted a front-running win in the 1 1/2-mile Louisville (G3) over firm Churchill Downs turf.
Last out he attended the pace in the 1 3/8-mile Chorleywood on June 15 over firm Churchill green but could not hold off the late charge of graded-stakes winner Webslinger.
The rest of the Bowling Green field includes multiple graded-stakes placed, Ontario-bred English Conqueror in post 4 with 118 pounds including Jose Lezcano, a last-out winner of a 1 3/16-mile optional-claimer in course record time at Belmont at the Big A for trainer Darwin Banach; and multiple graded-stakes-placed Strong Tide, in post 7 with 118 pounds including Luis Saez, for trainer and co-owner Michael Lauer.
2024 Bowling Green G2
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Ohana Honor Honor Code | 6.57 | Claude R. McGaughey III Kendrick Carmouche | 3rd, 2024 Manhattan Stakes G1 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 3rd, 2024 Manhattan Stakes G1 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 2 |  | Silver Knott Lope de Vega | 6.65 | Charlie Appleby Flavien Prat | 1st, 2024 Man O' War Stakes G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 1st, 2024 Man O' War Stakes G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 3 |  | Sugoi Karakontie | 5.91 | Michael J. Maker Julien R. Leparoux | 2nd, 2024 Chorleywood Overnight LS 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 2nd, 2024 Chorleywood Overnight LS 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 4 |  | English Conqueror English Channel | 0.00 | Darwin D. Banach Jose Lezcano | 1st, Aqu AlwOC (6/16/24-R6) 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 1st, Aqu AlwOC (6/16/24-R6) 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 5 |  | Soldier Rising Frankel | 4.84 | Christophe Clement Jose L. Ortiz | 2nd, 2023 Red Smith G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 2nd, 2023 Red Smith G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 6 |  | Strong Quality Quality Road | 6.28 | Mark E. Casse Florent Geroux | 8th, 2024 Manhattan Stakes G1 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 8th, 2024 Manhattan Stakes G1 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
| 7 |  | Strong Tide English Channel | 5.91 | Michael E. Lauer Luis Saez | 3rd, 2024 Wise Dan G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | Entered |
| Last Race Next Race | 3rd, 2024 Wise Dan G2 2024 Bowling Green G2 | |||||
