ARCADIA, Calif. – A favorable pace scenario benefits Kings River Knight on Saturday at Santa Anita, where the veteran gelding seeks his third victory in a stakes race that he practically owns.
Kings River Knight is the lone speed in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes, a turf mile for California-breds he won as the odds-on favorite the past two years. But this year is different. Kings River Knight, 7 years old, enters off a sixth-place comeback, the lowest finish of his career.
“A bit of an odd race,” trainer John Sadler acknowledged, referring to the Sensational Star Stakes, a turf sprint. “Off the [10-month] comeback, he might have needed it, but he’s trained really good since. I expect him to run like the old Kings River Knight.”
He gets ideal conditions. Kings River Knight is the only front-runner in the Crystal Water. He also is the most accomplished horse on a Saturday program with five stakes for California-breds. Kings River Knight, a six-time stakes winner and 10 for 17 overall, is the 4-5 program favorite in the Crystal Water, race 8.
Kings River Knight, whose rider is Juan Hernandez, should be loose on the lead. His rivals are Stamp My Passport, 8-year-old stakes winner Coalinga Road, and outsiders Takes Three, Barely Funtional, Clouseau, and Freeport Joe. Except for the favorite, it’s an allowance-caliber field of statebreds.
A skeptic might question if Kings River Knight is as good as he was a year ago. In his March 30 comeback sprint, he pressed the pace and finished off the board.
“There was a lot of pace in that downhill race and it just didn’t work for him,” Sadler said. “He didn’t run that bad.”
The race served its purpose as a prep for the Crystal Water. Sadler said Kings River Knight has trained very well since, and there is no doubting his class. “He’s so reliable,” Sadler said.
Kings River Knight was bred by Old English Rancho and has earned $650,330. He is the second-leading money earner sired by Acclamation. The stallion’s top earner is Acclimate, who earned $763,372.
If the race unfolds as expected, Kings River Knight figures to wire the field as the most probable winner on the card. If he misfires, anything goes. Stamp My Passport could be positioned closest to the favorite and would get first run.
Based in California, Stamp My Passport made his last two starts at Turf Paradise. He won an entry-level allowance, then finished third in a second-level allowance behind a pair of next-start winners. Leonard Powell trains Stamp My Passport. Armando Ayuso is his rider.
The 8-year-old stakes winners Coalinga Road and Freeport Joe are the oldest horses running on Saturday at Santa Anita. Coalinga Road’s most recent win was January of 2023 in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic, a race in which Kings River Knight finished fourth. Coalinga Road is 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
Coalinga Road and Freeport Joe are late-runners who must catch a loose-on-the-lead favorite. Umberto Rispoli rides Coalinga Road. Assael Espinoza is on 30-1 Freeport Joe for trainer Gloria Haley.
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