Sharp-eyed horse racing enthusiasts may have noticed the distinctive gear worn by Layabout, the victor of the Grade 3 William L. McKnight Stakes held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
This four-year-old gelding races with a hood that includes mesh eye covers known as “pacifiers.” While the mesh is see-through, it dims the horse’s vision, helping to soothe horses that get easily spooked or overly stimulated by visual cues.<\/p>\n
In Saturday’s 1 1\/2-mile turf race, Layabout took the lead from start to finish, pulling away in the stretch to win by 1 1\/4 lengths, with jockey David Egan aboard.<\/p>\n
Trainer Patrick Biancone explained, \u201cHe performs much better when he\u2019s ahead, so we fitted him with a special hood because he fears other horses.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Rough Start<\/strong><\/p>\n Layabout\u2019s first three races under trainer Brian Lynch ended with defeats totaling 81 lengths. Andy Biancone, Patrick\u2019s daughter and host on FanDuel TV, commented that the gelding often tried to break away from the rider or surprised him, making the horse challenging to control.<\/p>\n \u201cBrian is excellent and a great jockey,\u201d Andy remarked. \u201cBut Layabout was quite restless during his time with Brian, and Brian was hesitant to take him to Kentucky because the horse was very difficult then.\u201d<\/p>\n Owner Kevin Doyle then gave Patrick Biancone the chance to work with Layabout to see if a new approach could unlock the talent the horse showed during morning workouts.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first received him, he was pacing aggressively in the stalls, so my dad gave him some time out,\u201d Andy shared. \u201cFortunately, Palm Meadows has many paddocks and corrals, which we use for all horses, not just the \u2018layabouts.\u2019 Whenever the weather is nice, the horses live outside full-time.\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick added, \u201cWe noticed his eyesight wasn\u2019t great, and he was particularly scared on his right side.\u201d<\/p>\n They initially experimented with earplugs, which helped slightly. However, once they added the pacifier hood, Layabout became much calmer\u2014a drastic change from a high-strung animal to a gentle one.<\/p>\n Early on, Layabout wore his pacifier hood mainly around stable workers because he was nervous and would jump frequently walking the stall aisles. Over time, as he adjusted to his routine, he only needed the hood when being saddled or going to the races.<\/p>\n He still enjoys time outside in the round pen and prefers working out alongside his usual training partner, Beech Gold.<\/p>\n Andy joked, \u201cMy dad swears this horse understands counting. He sits in a chair at the barn corner handing out peppermints, and only horses who make eye contact receive exactly three treats\u2014and the layabouts won\u2019t leave until they get them all!\u201d<\/p>\n Layabout is very intelligent, but you can\u2019t force or rough-handle him. If he were human, Andy mused, \u201che\u2019d probably be like Forrest Gump\u2014full of energy but sometimes hard to stop.\u201d The horse can gallop endlessly yet struggles to slow down on his own and becomes terrified when other horses approach his right side.<\/p>\n Layabout debuted with Biancone on May 9, 2025, winning a $50,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream by a length and a half, wearing his pacifier hood from the van ride through the race and cooldown.<\/p>\n Following this pattern, he won an Allowance race on June 20 and the Bear\u2019s Den Stakes later that same day at Gulfstream. Afterward, Patrick tried adding a taped modification to the hood\u2014a tactic reminiscent of blinkers.<\/p>\n Kentucky Journey<\/strong><\/p>\n Andy traveled with Layabout to Kentucky Downs for the Gun Runner Stakes in September. Although she was nervous due to the horse\u2019s past behavior, assistance from Steve Asmussen Stable\u2019s ponies and pacifier use made the trip smooth.<\/p>\n Even in the paddock, Layabout behaved perfectly as he headed out with Keith Asmussen, Andy\u2019s fianc\u00e9. However, the horse was drawn inside on that day and had difficulty with horses outside.<\/p>\n Keith described the sensation as strange, noting Layabout lacked speed until he moved outside and then barely missed his last front-running margin.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something unsettling about his right eye,\u201d Andy explained. \u201cThe horse isn\u2019t blind but seems to see shadows or something unusual there.\u201d<\/p>\n After an incident where Layabout was bumped by a horse on his right side, Patrick tried adding duct tape over the back of the mesh on that same side of the pacifier.<\/p>\n Tape Triumphs<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis worked like blinkers,\u201d Andy said. \u201cWe asked Gulfstream Park if adding tape counted as a gear change, but they said no. We wanted to be transparent about it on air and described it as tape, not blinkers.\u201d<\/p>\n This small modification contributed to Layabout\u2019s career-highlight win in the McKnight Stakes, held alongside the Pegasus World Cup. David Egan rode the gelding wire-to-wire, withstanding pressure on the far turn and displaying a powerful finish to win at 6-1 odds.<\/p>\n Andy added, \u201cIn recent workouts, Layabout trained inside Beech Gold. After adding tape, he seemed much more secure. Even when feeling pressure from outside horses, he didn\u2019t see them.\u201d<\/p>\n Patrick considered running Layabout in the Pegasusturf but was concerned about the requirements, including bringing the horse to Gulfstream three days before the race, especially since Layabout’s two Listed Stakes wins did not guarantee an invite.<\/p>\n Looking ahead, with more experience and time, Layabout might handle travel better. Patrick envisions a bright future, with potential plans for the gelding to compete in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2027.<\/p>\n The rest of Layabout\u2019s racing season is expected to include several long-distance turf stakes at Gulfstream, followed by a potential break before returning to Kentucky Downs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s quite the character, but we\u2019re proud of his performances,\u201d Andy said. \u201cThe McKnight was a bit of a trial run. He showed he could keep up a fast pace all day. If he thrives there, it could open many opportunities during the year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing the fractions, I thought, \u2018Oh my God, David, why?\u2019 but Layabout can sustain high speeds. Even when horses challenged him on the outside, the tape helped him focus, and he had plenty left to finish strong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDad has poured his heart into this horse, and the bond they share is incredible. Layabout has definitely become a barn favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n Fan Take:<\/strong> Layabout\u2019s journey highlights how customized equipment and patient training can unlock a horse\u2019s true potential, even when physical limitations pose challenges. For horse racing fans, stories like this underscore the importance of innovation and care in developing stars who can transform the sport and inspire future training approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sharp-eyed horse racing enthusiasts may have noticed the distinctive gear worn by Layabout, the victor of the Grade 3 William L. McKnight Stakes held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Saturday. This four-year-old gelding races with a hood that includes mesh eye covers known as “pacifiers.” While the mesh is see-through, it dims […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2955],"class_list":{"0":"post-39365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-horse-racing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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