Knightsbridge Odds-On Favorite for G3 Gulfstream Park Mile

Half-Brother to 2022 Winner Speaker’s Corner 1-5 on Morning Line

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Knightsbridge will seek to follow family history Saturday when the Godolphin homebred goes to post for the $225,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G3) presented by Fierceness.

The 5-year-old son of Nyquist and the Bernadini mare Tyburn Brook figures to be the odds-on favorite to follow in his half-brother Speaker’s Corner’s footsteps in the 82nd running of the one-turn mile race for older horses, one of eight graded stakes on Gulfstream’s 14-race program with nine total stakes.

Speaker’s Corner, a son of Street Sense out of Tyburn Brook trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, captured the 2022 edition of the Gulfstream Park Mile by a rousing 5 ½ lengths while following up his triumph in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) in his prior start at Gulfstream.

“They’re both very talented horses, and they both got their momentum going down here at Gulfstream in the winter,” Mott said. “I think some of the races probably mirror each other that they ran in or are going to run in.”

Knightsbridge, the 1-5 morning-line favorite for the Gulfstream Park Mile, followed up a 4 ¾-length romp in the Dec. 27 Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream with a dominating 4 ¾-length triumph in the Jan. 24 Hooper. The margin of victory in the Hooper probably doesn’t do justice to Knightsbridge’s performance, considering he was involved in a pacesetting duel for three-quarters of a mile and won geared down nearing the wire.

Although he had won twice from his first four starts, including a 2024 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, Knightsbridge has been undefeated in his three races since the addition of blinkers.

“Hopefully, we manage to get this one under our belt on the weekend and we’ll see where we go from there,” said Mott, who saddled Speaker’s Corner for a victory in the Carter (G1) at Aqueduct following his back-to-back Gulfstream wins. “There are some big, big races in front of us in the course of the year, a couple of nice seven-furlong races and a good mile race.”

Junior Alvarado, who piloted Knightsbridge’s Mr. Prospector and Fred W. Hooper triumphs, has the return mount for the Gulfstream Park Mile. Alvarado was aboard for Speaker’s Corner’s Hooper and Gulfstream Park Mile victories as well.

Nice Guys Stables’ Mika, rated second at 3-1 on the morning line, enters the Gulfstream Park Mile off a ninth-place finish in the Jan. 24 Pegasus World Cup (G1). In his previous start, the 4-year-old son of Catholic Boy set all the pace in the one-turn mile Cigar Mile (G2) Dec. 5 at Aqueduct, only to fall a neck short of holding off Bishop’s Bay for the victory in his first start since returning to trainer Michael Maker’s stable.

Mika, who won one turf race from three starts for Maker to open his career, blossomed for trainer Brittany Russell in the Mid-Atlantic on dirt. The homebred colt romped to a 9 ¼-length victory in an off-the-turf optional claiming allowance in May over a sloppy Delaware Park main track. He came back on a fast Laurel Park track off a six-month break to score by 14 ½ lengths in a 1 1/16-mile allowance. Maker resumed training him for the Cigar Mile. Flavien Prat will ride Mika for the first time Saturday.

Michael and Jule Iavarone and TCC Stables LLC’s Steal Sunshine enters the Gulfstream Park Mile as a past winner, having registered a victory over Tumbarumba by a nose in 2004. In last year’s running, the 7-year-old son of Constitution finished second behind Mindframe.

The Bobby Dibona-trained Steal Sunshine will try to rebound from a pair of subpar showings in the Fort Lauderdale (G2) on turf and the Fred W. Hooper in his two most recent starts.

Jose Morelos has the call on Steal Sunshine, who is rated third at 8-1 on the morning line.

Wolf Pack Racing’s Flying Liam will attempt to win his stakes debut Saturday in his first start off the claim for $62,500 by trainer Nolan Ramsey. The 6-year-old Liam’s Map gelding captured a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance by 2 ¼ lengths Jan. 25 at Gulfstream for his previous connections.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano has the return call for the Gulfstream Park Mile.

Ron Hendrickson’s Bernin Hot and Amy Dunne and Patrick Biancone’s Classic of Course round out the field.