Layabout takes them all the way in the William McKnight, Coglianese Photo
Gulfstream Park Press
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Kevin Doyle’s Layabout ($14) set all the pace under David Egan before drawing away in the stretch to register a mild upset victory in Saturday’s $225,000 William L. McKnight presented by Woodford Reserve (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
The 59th running of the McKnight, a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for 4-year-olds and up, was one of 10 stakes, seven graded, worth $5.375 million in purses, on a blockbuster 13-race card featuring the 10th anniversary of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).
Coming off a victory in the Dec. 13 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream, Layabout was facing older horses for the first time in stakes competition in the McKnight. The Patrick Biancone-trained 4-year-old gelding was sent right to the lead by Egan, one of Europe’s leading riders who has been riding at Gulfstream during the Championship Meet the past few seasons, The son of Laoban set a steady pace while stalked by longshot Act a Feel for a 1:37.85 mile, built on fractions of 22.97 and 47.85 seconds for the first half-mile.
Turning into the homestretch, Layabout shook free and drew off to win by 1 ¼ lengths, completing the 1 ½-mile distance in 2:25.27. Padiddle closed from well off the pace under Manuel Franco to finish second, a neck ahead of Balnikhov and jockey Joel Rosario.
$225,000 William L. McKnight presented by Woodford Reserve Quotes (G3)
Winning Trainer Patrick Biancone (Layabout): “This is a fantastic horse. The distance we run him is his best. I said to David (Egan), ride him like we’re sure that he’ll stay. Don’t try to finesse. Take the lead and make the other horses run, and that’s what he did. He’s much better when he’s in front. That’s why he (wears) the special goggles, because he’s scared of the other horses. He’s scared of everything. It (the goggles) is created in Australia. They call it a ‘pacifier.’ It pacifies the horses. When he came to me, he was really scared of everything, so we tried a few tricks. When we put the pacifier on him, now he’s so nice.”
Winning Jockey David Egan (Layabout): “He was a horse who Patrick thought had a lot of natural stamina, obviously stepping up in trip. He kept grinding the last time he ran and was a narrow winner. I was able to get into a lovely rhythm and give him a nice breather at the half-mile pole. When he quickened up and changed leads at the bottom of the lane, he quickened up nice. He did lean a little bit to the rail, but he was able to fend them all off.”
“I think the fact that I had to use a lot of gas early to hold on to the lead, at the half-mile pole I was able to just lean against him and not fully let him down until the quarter pole. In these long distance races, no matter how fast you go, if you’re able to save a little bit in reserve you’ve got a little bit of a kick to the wire, which is crucial.”
“I’ve got a lot of respect for all the riders here, they’re world-class. From what maybe have in experience in some of the longer races, you’ve got legends of the game in that jock’s room. I’m always trying to make myself better and I think coming here to South Florida the last couple of winters has made me a better rider, not just here in America but also when I go back to Europe.”
