Brad Cox
Regally bred Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) is among seven fillies hoping to stamp their tickets to the GI Kentucky Oaks in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn. A daughter of Grade I winner Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union), the gray earned her diploma at third asking in a sloppy two-turn test at Fair Grounds Feb. 12 and rallied to be a close second next out in this venue's GIII Honeybee S. Mar. 6. Honeybee third-place finisher Sun Path (Munnings) looks to break through at the black-type level here. A second-out graduation...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-KEE, $79K, Msw, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 2:12 p.m. ET OXO Equine LLC's Primary Endpoint (Pioneerof the Nile) makes his debut in a salty-looking Keeneland maiden special weight Saturday. The $600,000 Fasig-Tipton November '18 weanling is a half to none other than two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit). Brad Cox has been preparing the bay at Fair Grounds for this. Curlin Lane (Curlin) was a $500,000 KEESEP yearling buy by Albaugh Family Stables. The Dale Romans pupil is out of a SW/GSP mare...
'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) looks to maintain a spotless record as he stretches out to nine furlongs for the first time while facing a field of nine in this Saturday's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. If this 3-5 morning line favorite were to score a win this weekend, he would, by most accounts, be considered a top choice heading into the GI Kentucky Derby as an undefeated dual Grade I winner. And yet, history would still be working against the Godolphin homebred come the first Saturday...
The picture for the GI Kentucky Oaks might look a lot different late Saturday afternoon than it does at the present. There are four races on tap-the GIII Gazelle S., the GI Ashland S., the GIII Fantasy and the GII Santa Anita Oak--that will feature more than a dozen serious candidates for the last Friday in April. Five horses among our top 10 are slated to go. Meanwhile, last weekend's action featured a win in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks for Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) and a strong showing for...
M G Warrior (Majestic Warrior-Marvel Gaye, by Bowman's Band) has been retired from racing to stand his first season at stud at Charter Oak Farm LLC in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He will stand as property of Chrysalis Stables LLC for an introductory fee of $750 for the 2021 breeding season. Trained by Brad Cox, M G Warrior won five of 17 starts before retiring with earnings of $298,226. The bay broke his maiden going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds and then recorded four wins against allowance and allowance/optional claiming...
For most of this year, this has been a division where no one necessarily stood out. That all changed last Saturday at the Fair Grounds, where Travel Column (Frosted) won the GII Fair Grounds Oaks, soundly beating her rival, Clairiere (Curlin). Not only did she defeat a top horse, it was a dominating performance. There are still a bunch of preps to go, but unless someone steps up with a phenomenal effort in a prep, Travel Column will be your favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks. After running sixth in...
Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) exited his win in Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby in fine shape and will ship back to trainer Doug O'Neill's California base Tuesday to prepare for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby. "Charlie looked great this morning," O'Neill said. "He flies back to California on Tuesday. I love the spacing [six weeks] leading up to the Kentucky Derby. It's ideal. He's proven to travel well. I'm very proud of my nephew Patrick [with co-owner Boat Racing]. He's a real good young man and I'm very excited...
'TDN Rising Star' Travel Column (Frosted) and the regally bred Clairiere (Curlin) have developed a competitive rivalry as they proceed down the GI Kentucky Oaks trail, with one apiece from their two prior meetings. Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks was billed as another match race between the two and it was Travel Column who broke the tie with a decisive score over Clairiere. Awarded 2-1 favoritism over her familiar foe, Travel Column came away running from her outside post in this eight-horse affair, but was out-footed to the lead...
Juddmonte Farms' TDN Rising Star Mandaloun (Into Mischief) attempts to follow up on a professional last-out score in the GII Risen Star S. in Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds. Earning Rising Star status first time out going six panels at Keeneland last October, the bay followed up with another solid win while adding an additional furlong in a Churchill Downs optional claimer the following month. Heavily supported for his seasonal reappearance in the Jan. 16 GIII Lecomte S. in New Orleans, he had to settle for third,...
Blue-blooded Clairiere (Curlin) and pricey yearling purchase Travel Column (Frosted) boast one win each from their two prior match-ups and one will break the tie Saturday in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Clairiere came out on top by a gutsy neck in their last meeting in NOLA in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 13. Out of MGISW Cavorting (Bernardini), the Stonestreet Stables homebred won on debut going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs Oct. 25 and was second to Travel Column next out in that track's GII Golden Rod...
Defending juvenile champion Essential Quality (Tapit) is expected to make his next start in the Apr. 3 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland, according to trainer Brad Cox Tuesday. The Godolphin homebred, who is slated to post his final major work this Saturday, most recently won the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Feb. 27. "The Blue Grass is what we have zeroed in on," confirmed Cox. "He's done extremely well [since the Southwest]. We breezed him last Saturday [Mar. 13], and we clocked him at a half in :48.20,...
GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) made her seasonal bow a successful win with a gritty victory in Oaklawn's GII Azeri S. Saturday. Dispatched as the 9-5 second-choice behind MGSW Letruska in this five-horse affair, the bay caught a flyer from the outside stall and was unchallenged on the front end through a :23.93 first quarter. Still on cruise control under Florent Geroux through a :47.79 half-mile, she was confronted by Letruska and Envoutante (Uncle Mo) to her outside with five-sixteenths left to run. Edging clear of her pursuers exiting...