HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Knightsbridge finally got his first graded stakes victory and did so in style, withstanding early pace pressure before drawing off to a convincing and relatively easy 4 3/4-length victory over the multiple graded stakes winner Super Chow in Saturday’s $150,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Knightsbridge began his career in impressive fashion, winning his first two starts by a combined 19 1/2 lengths, only to suffer a setback that sent him to the sidelines while preparing for the 2024 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. The Grade 3 Mr. Prospector was his fourth start since finally getting back to the races during fall 2024 and is his second straight win, the Godolphin homebred having prepped for the race with an easy allowance victory at Aqueduct five weeks ago.
With regular rider Junior Alvarado aboard, Knightsbridge broke alertly and quickly sprinted to the lead. He turned back challenges from both Super Chow and Wound Up approaching the stretch before ultimately edging clear and increasing his advantage steadily through the final furlong. Super Chow loomed boldly three wide turning for home, could not match strides with the winner, but was easily second-best, finishing 4 3/4 lengths in front of Wound Up.
Knightsbridge covered seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:22.32 seconds and paid $2.40 as the prohibitive 1-5 favorite following the scratch of multiple Grade 1 winner White Abarrio earlier in the day.
“It’s been a long time. Our target when he was a 3-year-old was the Pat Day Mile at Churchill, but in his last work before the race he came up with a little issue,” Mott said. “It’s happened a couple times with him. Hopefully, now, he’s got everything in order and we can move forward from here.”
Mott said the one-mile, Grade 3 Fred Hooper on the Pegasus World Cup undercard on Jan. 24 would likely be the next race he’ll target for Knightsbridge.
Abundantia Stakes
Nobody has been hotter during the opening month of the 2025-26 Championship meet than trainer Brian Lynch, who has also been on fire in the $100,000 Abundantia Stakes. Lynch won the five-furlong turf fixture for fillies and mares for the third straight year when Moon Spun dug in to turn back a bid from Haulin Ice to register a well-deserved neck victory under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano earlier on the card.
Lynch won the Abundantia for the first time in 2023 with Stone Silent, then repeated the feat a year ago with Just a Care. He began Saturday with nine wins from just 20 starters at the meet, including earlier stakes victories in the Grade 3 Fort Lauderdale with Wolfie’s Dynaghost and Wait a While with Sister Troienne.
Moon Spun broke well and contested the early pace with Etrurian, finally shaking off Etrurian midway on the turn. At that point, Moon Spun was joined by the pacestalking Haulin Ice, who loomed boldly after coming four wide off the turn before hanging in the final yards to be second-best while making her turf debut.
Love Appeals rallied mildly to finish third, followed by Flamingo Way, Choose Joy, the tiring Etrurian and Mizoula.
The Abundantia was the second win in a row on the comeback trail for Moon Spun, a 4-year-old daughter of Hard Spun, following a 13-month absence and came in her stakes debut. She ran five furlongs over the firm turf in 55.33 and paid $5.80 as the tepid 9-5 favorite.
“We’ve had a bit of fun in here,” Lynch said referring to his streak in the Abundantia. “She got a little hot going to the gate, so that was a little concerning, but she’s a bit of a hot-blooded filly at the best of times. She broke sharp and [Castellano] got to give her a little breather going into the turn, so I think that helped. They had every chance to beat her. They ran up to her like they were going to go by her and she bore down and got it done.”
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