ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 13, 2024) – Even-money favorite Kings River Knight, a grandson of legendary California stallion Unusual Heat, went wire to wire to win Saturday’s $200,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic, presented by City National Bank, at Santa Anita.
Kings River Knight is by Acclamation, out of the Poteen mare Seasontoperfection, was bred by Old English Rancho, is owned by Integrity Thoroughbred Racing, the Ellwood Johnston Trust and Kenneth Tevelde and is trained by John Sadler.
“Old English Rancho are just great California breeders, and Buddy Johnston was my neighbor for about 25-30 years across from Santa Anita here, so it’s wonderful to see these silks win,” said Sadler. “They have great people, and it is a great California legacy.”
Kings River Knight has eight wins in 14 starts, earnings of $536,010 and has wins in three consecutive starts and five of his last six starts. He was fourth in this race last year.
Kings River Knight ran the 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:48.02 and won by one-half length over Carmelita’s Way, with Aligato a nose back in third.
The Unusual Heat Turf Classic is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for registered California-bred or sired horses.
Pressed to the top of the lane by longshot Passarando, who was ridden by Frankie Dettori, Kings River Knight then had to fend off stiff challenges from late runners Carmelita’s Man and Aligato who were steadily gaining late.
“I give all the credit to trainer John Sadler,” said Hernandez. “He really had this horse ready. He broke like a rocket when the gate opened and I just let him do his thing. He traveled very comfortably the entire race. When we got to the three-eighths, I saw some horses next to us. He did all the work from there. He was very relaxed and comfortable and did all the work.”
Fourth, beaten a length in the Turf Classic a year ago when trained by Golden Gate Fields-based Andy Mathis, Kings River Knight, who is now five for seven since relocating to Southern California with Sadler, was last seen on Oct. 15 at Santa Anita, winning the California Flag Handicap at about 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course.
The even money favorite today in a field of 10 older horses, Kings River Knight paid $4.20, $2.80 and $2.20.
Patiently handled by Tiago Pereira, the Dean Pederson-trained Carmelita’s Man was mid-pack and into the bridle heading to the far turn, made a solid run through the stretch and ran out of real estate on the money while managing to just hold off Aligato by a nose.
Off at 11-1, Carmelita’s Man paid $7.60 and $4.60.
Trained by Mark Glatt, Aligato rallied wide to finish third at 4-1 under Flavien Prat, returning $2.60 to show.
Fractions on the race were 23.59, 47.67, 1:12.21 and 1:36.36.