Midwest Thoroughbreds fires trainer; moves 30 horses to East Coast

Midwest Thoroughbreds, the leading owner in North America in wins since 2010, has fired one of its trainers, Brad Cox, and has shipped the 30 horses he trained at Churchill Downs to Jamie Ness on the East Coast.

Cox said Saturday that he was informed this week of his firing by a phone call from an attorney representing Richard Papiese, the Chicago businessman who owns Midwest with his wife, Karen. This was the second time Cox, 32, has been fired by Midwest, having worked for them for about seven months in 2010 before being rehired in April 2011.

Cox said he now has three horses at Churchill for other clients. In his two stints for Midwest, he won with 107 of 424 starters for earnings of $1,855,210 while racing primarily in Kentucky and at Oaklawn Park.

Into Saturday, Midwest was by far the leading owner in North America this year with 367 victories from 1,125 starters. The stable also led all owners in wins with 299 in 2010 and 411 in 2011. Ness currently has the vast majority of the stable’s horses in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, while Roger Brueggemann has a string in Chicago and Tom Amoss has a few in Kentucky.