The W.L. McKnight Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horses run at Calder Race Course

Calder Race Course

Calder Casino & Race Course is a casino and horse racetrack in Miami Gardens, Florida in the United States.-History:In the mid-1960s, real estate developer Stephen A. Calder envisioned summertime racing in Florida; in 1965, on the advice of Mr. Calder, the Florida Legislature approved a bill...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, in the late fall of each year. The race is open to horses, age three and up. From 1973 to 1980, the distance was one and one-eighth miles on the turf. Starting in 1981, the distance was set, and still remains at one and one-half miles on the turf.

The Grade II

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 event carries a purse of $200,000.

Past winners

• 2011 - Musketier (Luis Saez)
• 2010 - Prince Will I Am (Javier Castellano
  Javier Castellano
  Javier Castellano is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Castellano began his riding career in his native Venezuela in 1996 and in June 1997 moved to the United States where rode at race tracks in southern Florida until 2001 when he moved to race on the New York State racing circuit.In...
  
  )
• 2009 - Cloudy's Knight
  Cloudy's Knight
  Cloudy's Knight is an American Thoroughbred racehorse.Out of Northern Dancer's grandadaughter, Cloudy Spot, he was sired by the 1980 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Lord Avie...
  
   (Rosemary Homeister, Jr.
  Rosemary Homeister, Jr.
  Rosemary Homeister, Jr. is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. Both of Homeister's parents were jockeys and as a result she grew up riding horses. Her mother is now a horse trainer at the Calder Race Course where Rosemary won her first race as an apprentice jockey...
  
  )
• 2008 - Presious Passion
  Presious Passion
  Presious Passion is a multiple Grade I winning Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in the United States, he is a gelded son of multiple Grade I winner Royal Anthem and the unraced mare, Princesa's Passion, who comes from an extended family of stakes winning horses. Presious Passion's career has included...
  
   (Elvis Trujillo
  Elvis Trujillo
  Elvis Raúl Trujillo is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing best known for riding Maryfield to victory in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint which that year was his big break. He is one of two jockeys in American racing whose mother was an Elvis Presley fan and who named their...
  
  )
• 2007 - Presious Passion
  Presious Passion
  Presious Passion is a multiple Grade I winning Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in the United States, he is a gelded son of multiple Grade I winner Royal Anthem and the unraced mare, Princesa's Passion, who comes from an extended family of stakes winning horses. Presious Passion's career has included...
  
   (Elvis Trujillo)
• 2006 - Devil's Preacher (Rafael Bejarano)
• 2005 - Meteor Storm (Javier Castellano
  Javier Castellano
  Javier Castellano is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Castellano began his riding career in his native Venezuela in 1996 and in June 1997 moved to the United States where rode at race tracks in southern Florida until 2001 when he moved to race on the New York State racing circuit.In...
  
  )
• 2004 - Dreadnaught (Jean-Luc Samyn
  Jean-Luc Samyn
  Jean-Luc Samyn is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.The son of a pastry chef, Jean-Luc Samyn was one of three children. At age thirteen, he went to work for the stable of trainer John Cunnington at Chantilly, a racecourse about north of Paris city center...
  
  )
• 2003 - Balto Star (John Velazquez)
• 2002 - Man From Wicklow (Jerry Bailey)
• 2001 - Profit Margin (Mark Guidry
  Mark Guidry
  Mark Guidry is a retired American jockey.He began his riding career in Thoroughbred horse racing in his native Louisiana in 1974 where he remained until 1986 when he went to race in Illinois. He was the leading jockey at Hawthorne Race Course seven times, Sportsman's Park nine times, and two...
  
  )
• 2000 - A Little Luck
• 1999 - Wicapi
• 1998 - Wild Event
• 1997 - Panama City
• 1996 - Diplomatic Jet
• 1995 - Flag Down
• 1994 - Star of Manila
• 1993 - Antarctic Wings
• 1992 - Bye Union Ave
• 1991 - Stolen Rolls
• 1990 - Drum Taps
  Drum Taps (horse)
  Drum Taps was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a noted stayer, showing his best form over distances in excess of two miles, but was also successful over shorter distances. He won England’s most important staying race, the Ascot Gold Cup in 1992 and 1993. In 1992 he was named European...
  
  
• 1989 - Mataji
• 1988 - All Sincerity
• 1987 - Creme Fraiche
• 1986 - Flying Pidgeon
• 1985 - Jack Slade, Flying Pidgeon - Div.
• 1984 - Open Call, Nijinsky's Secret - Div.
• 1983 - Current Blade
• 1982 - Ghazwan, Russian George - Div.
• 1981 - El Barril, Buckpoint - Div.
• 1980 - Old Crony, Drums Captain
• 1979 - Bob's Dusty
• 1978 - Practitioner
• 1977 - Hall of Reason
• 1976 - Toonerville
• 1975 - Snurb
• 1974 - Shane's Prince
• 1973 - Getajetholme