Unofficial Champion Stayer 2009: Cloudy's Knight · 7.01.10

For performances in North America at distances of 1 1/2 miles and beyond, Left Coast Racing awards the unofficial title of Champion Stayer for 2009 to CLOUDY’S KNIGHT.

Here again are the final standings (numbers in brackets indicate points earned in dirt or synthetic-surface races):

  1. Cloudy’s Knight — 24 (10)
  2. Champs Elysees — 14
  3. Brass Hat — 14
  4. Spice Route — 14
  5. Midships — 12
  6. Criticism — 11 ***
  7. Summer Bird — 10 (10)
  8. Man of Iron — 10 (10)
  9. Conduit — 10
  10. Interpatation — 10
  11. Just As Well — 10
  12. Telling — 10
  13. Spring House — 10
  14. Perfect Shower — 10
  15. Nite Light — 10 (10)

Cloudy’s Knight’s 2009 campaign didn’t actually start until 19 September, when he won the Kentucky Cup Turf — the 9-year-old’s first race in 373 days, and first win in 23 months. One month later he won the Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland. His connections then decided to take a chance and switch Cloudy’s Knight from turf to synthetic, on the biggest racing stage of all: the Breeders’ Cup Marathon. The gamble almost paid off when he came with a huge move on the final turn, going three-wide and taking the lead at the quarter-pole. Man of Iron caught him at the sixteenth-pole and went on to win, but not before Cloudy’s Knight came back and just missed by a nose. The 17-hand chestnut gelding went on to win the Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine, again on synthetic, and finished the year with another turf win in the W.L. McKnight Handicap at Calder.

Owned and bred by Jerrald Schwartz’s S J Stables, Cloudy’s Knight’s came under the care of trainer Jonathan Sheppard earlier in the year. Prior to this past year, his biggest victory had been the 2007 Canadian International, but had struggled since then and a tendon injury threatened to end his career. Sheppard nursed him back to health at his Pennsylvania farm with long slow gallops and jumping exercises. His previous racing record, and the stamina he showed in his workouts, indicated to Sheppard and Schwartz that the horse might still excel at longer distances.

Four wins and a close second in five races — all at distances of 1 1/2 miles or more — on both turf and synthetic surfaces — in less than four months, is more than enough for Cloudy’s Knight to deserve the (unofficial) title of Champion Stayer for 2009. As has been mentioned before, other horses noted during this year’s Stayers’ Watch series may have better overall talent, and earned their points in higher-class races. However, none of them ran as consistently at “marathon” distances as Cloudy’s Knight. By Lord Avie out of Cloudy Spot, at first glance at his pedigree there is little to indicate a natural aptitude for longer races. But go back five generations and there is Princequillo, in just the right position on the maternal side to be a potential source of the X-factor “large heart” gene. Gallant Man and Buckpasser also provide him with additional sources of stamina in his breeding.

An alternative theory for Cloudy’s Knight’s success is his age — he is now 10 years old, and his connections expect to continue racing him as long as he’s healthy. Like other veterans of recent years such as Evening Attire and Better Talk Now, he may have lost a step but he has gained more ability to maintain his speed and form over a longer distance. It may be that the story of Cloudy’s Knight is a variation of the old joke about the old bull and the young bull....

UPDATE: I somehow missed the accomplishments of Criticism. Wins in the La Prevoyante Handicap in April, and the Long Island Handicap in November, and third place in the Orchid Handicap in March, earned her 11 points. The English-bred race-mare is arguably the top female stayer of 2009. Thanks to reader Viva Pataca for the heads-up.

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What do you think?

  1. Hi e-man, based on your scoring system, should Criticism (GB) also has 11 points based on her result in the Orchid-G3, La Prevoyante-G2 and Long Island-G3? She also won the 1 3/8m Very One-G3 and Sheepshead Bay-G2 and 2nd in the 1 1/4m Flower Bowl-G1 but of course they don’t count. Or does fillies/mare races don’t count?

    — vivapataca · Jan 10, 06:36 PM · #

  2. Thanks very much for this — I’ll make corrections to the final standings. Can’t explain how/why I missed those races… :-(

    — E-man · Jan 10, 10:59 PM · #

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