2023 Belmont Stakes: Cox hoping third time's the charm
?q=100)
ELMONT, N.Y. – At the beginning of the season, the prospects for success in this year’s Triple Crown seemed bright for trainer Brad Cox whose 38 nominees were the most of any trainer in this year’s series.
After going winless with four starters in the Kentucky Derby and unable to have a runner in the Preakness, Cox will hope for a change of fortune when he sends out a trio of runners in the 155th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Cox will send out Angel of Empire and Hit Show, third and fifth, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby, as well as Tapit Shoes, a newcomer to the Triple Crown who is coming off a runner-up finish in the Bath House Row Stakes on April 22 at Oaklawn Park, in what is expected to be a 10-horse Belmont field.
Cox, who won the 2021 Belmont with Essential Quality, admits there is some pressure to do well in the Triple Crown when you have as many prospects as he did.
“There’s pressure, we definitely don’t want to have a bunch of horses nominated and not be a factor in the races,” Cox said Friday. “We want to make our presence felt.”
In the first Kentucky Derby Watch published by Daily Racing Form on Feb. 3, Cox had four 3-year-olds in the top 10. Instant Coffee was among his highest-rated colts, but that horse failed to earn his way into the Derby field as did Giant Mischief. Both horses are in light training toward a summer return.
Still, Cox had enough ammunition to get to the Derby with the quartet of Angel of Empire, winner of the Risen Star Stakes and Arkansas Derby; Hit Show, the Withers winner and Wood Memorial runner-up; Jace’s Road, third-place finisher in the Louisiana Derby; and Verifying, runner-up in the Blue Grass.
Angel of Empire, who went off the Derby favorite when Forte was scratched the morning of the race, ran a solid third. Hit Show had a good trip and finished fifth. Verifying was part of a hot pace and Jace’s Road simply wasn’t good enough, finishing 16th and 17th, respectively, in the 18-horse field.
Cox was going to bring the late-developing First Mission to the Preakness, but that horse was scratched the day before the race with a hind ankle injury.
“The three major goals are the Triple Crown races,” Cox said. “I felt like we made a good showing in the Derby with two of the colts. The Preakness I felt like we were leading over a horse that was going to be very competitive.”
Cox believes that Angel of Empire is a horse who will appreciate the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont.
“I kind of thought all winter and into the spring that he was a horse that would get better with distance,” Cox said. “I thought he ran a great race in the Kentucky Derby. . . . His two works since the Kentucky Derby have been very good. Probably the most impressive part of his works are the gallop-outs, the stamina that he was born with, and just very excited to get the opportunity to go a mile and a half.”
Hit Show won the Withers emphatically at 1 1/8 miles and ran a solid race when second in the Wood Memorial, a race that produced last year’s Belmont winner, Mo Donegal. In the Kentucky Derby, Hit Show flattened out in the last furlong under Manny Franco after moving into third place in the stretch.
“I think he can stay on. Manny made the comment when he got off him this could be a Belmont horse,” Cox said.
Tapit Shoes is a horse Cox believes can be a factor in the division, if not Saturday then later on in the year.
“I’m not saying he’s definitely up to running the race of his life in the Belmont because I think he will be better three or four months moving forward than he is now,” Cox said.
Cox’s trio of horses were scheduled to work at Churchill Downs on Saturday and van to New York on Monday.
◗ Il Miracolo, who figures to be the longest shot in the Belmont field, worked five furlongs in 1:00.88 on Friday morning at Gulfstream Park.
He is scheduled to leave Florida by van Saturday and arrive in New York on Sunday.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.