by Mike Curry
Cloudy’s Knight challenged runner-up Sterwins in the stretch and gradually edged away from that foe in the final sixteenth on Saturday at Woodbine to prevail by one length in the $301,758 Sky Classic Stakes (Can-G2) and halt a five-race winless stretch.
The seven-year-old Lord Avie gelding entered off consecutive runner-up finishes in the Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap (G3) on July 4 at Arlington Park and the Nijinsky Stakes (Can-G2) on August 26 at Woodbine.
Trained by Frank Kirby for owner S J Stables, Cloudy’s Knight reestablished his winning form in the Sky Classic after a stalking trip under jockey Ramsey Zimmerman.
Zimmerman positioned Cloudy’s Knight in fifth then fourth as Shoal Water set a leisurely pace through a half-mile in :50.27 and six furlongs in 1:14.46 in the 1 3/8-mile turf race for three-year-olds and older.
Jockey Patrick Husbands had Sterwins in ideal striking position on the backstretch while racing alongside Linda’s Lad (GB) and Grade 1 winner Pellegrino (Brz). Sterwins pounced on pacesetter Shoal Water on the final turn and powered to the lead entering the stretch, but Cloudy’s Knight accelerated willingly when roused by Zimmerman.
“He relaxed right where I needed him to be, putting pressure on the horses on the inside,” Zimmerman said. “When I turned for home, I just smooched to him and hollered at him a bit and he kicked on from there.”
Cloudy’s Knight closed in on Sterwins, seized command leaving the eighth pole, and gradually pulled away to win in 2:14.10 on firm turf. He improved to nine wins in 31 starts and boosted his earnings to $828,023.
Sterwins was three-quarters of a length in front of third-place finisher Windward Islands. Multiple graded stakes winner Revved Up finished a nonthreatening sixth as the 2.40-to-1 favorite after breaking through the starting gate.
Cloudy’s Knight won the Fair Grounds Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G3) on February 10. He subsequently placed in three of five starts, all in graded stakes, before returning to the winner’s circle in the Sky Classic.
Bred in Kentucky by Jerrold Schwartz, Cloudy’s Knight is out of the winning Solar City mare Cloudy Spot.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor