Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Cox decides to enter Owendale
Trainer Brad Cox’s powerhouse lineup for this year’s Breeders’ Cup got just a bit deeper Monday when he decided that Owendale would join Knicks Go in the $1 million Dirt Mile on Saturday at Keeneland.
Cox had been on the fence with Owendale, saying that if Owendale passed the Breeders’ Cup he would go straight to the Grade 1 Clark later this month at Churchill Downs. But Owendale was part of Cox’s bulky list of final entries Monday. Florent Geroux was named to ride, Cox said.
Owendale was second most recently in the Pimlico Special on Oct. 2. He was a winner of the Grade 3 Lexington last year in his only prior start at Keeneland.
Knicks Go, who will be ridden by Joel Rosario, should be one of the top choices in the Dirt Mile following a track record-setting performance last month at Keeneland going 1 1/16 miles in which he got a Beyer Speed Figure of 107.
Cox’s dynamic Breeders’ Cup lineup includes such highly regarded runners as Monomoy Girl in the Distaff, Aunt Pearl in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Essential Quality in the Juvenile, among many others.