The Brad Cox barn, which won more turf races than any other outfit last season at Fair Grounds, already has dipped its foot into the 2016-17 Fair Grounds season, but it is diving all the way into the pool on Saturday’s six-stakes card. Cox has horses in six of the card’s 12 races, including multiple entrants in all four $75,000 stakes races on the program, though he does not run anything in either of the sprint stakes for 2-year-olds, the Sugar Bowl and the Letellier Memorial. Cox has horses cross-entered in three of the four richer stakes and said he plans to start Almasty in the Bonapaw, not the Buddy Diliberto Memorial, and Western Expression in the Diliberto, not the Tenacious. Chocolate Ride almost certainly will be favored to win the Diliberto, as will Green Mask in the Bonapaw, and Dazzling Gem could wind up the chalk in the Tenacious. But perhaps no Cox horse will be considered as sure a thing on the Saturday card as Cash Control in the Blushing K. D. Cash Control was one of 16 entrants in the Blushing K. D., which is for older females at about 1 1/16 miles on turf and is limited to 12 runners. The field is surprisingly deep for a five-figure stakes race, far richer in talent than recent editions, but Cash Control nonetheless figures to be heavily favored – far more so than her 3-1 morning-line odds. A 5-year-old Klein family homebred, Cash Control became a full-time grass horse only last winter, and after eight solid 2016 starts, she turned in the best performance of her career in winning the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap on Nov. 19 at Churchill Downs by four lengths. “It wasn’t a surprise to anyone in the barn the way she ran that day,” said Cox. “She’s been training great since then. She certainly has not regressed at all, and we expect another big effort Saturday.” But while Cash Control has been showing her connections all the right things in the morning, it’s not the norm for a horse about to turn 6 to put together back-to-back peak performances. Cash Control could regress to her mean and still prove competitive, but value-conscious players might look elsewhere in the Blushing K. D. Secret Someone offers one alternative, though it’s difficult to forecast which version of the mare will show up. At Kentucky Downs, she won the $348,000 Ladies Turf by almost four lengths, leaving in her wake none other than Cash Control. But she came back with a ninth, albeit against Grade 1 company, in the First Lady at Keeneland and was no factor when eighth in the My Charmer Stakes last month in Florida. “The course last time was like running on sand, and she wasn’t ever comfortable on it,” said trainer Mike Stidham. “She’s training well again though, and I expect her to run well.” Kitten’s Roar fell too far off the pace in the Cardinal, and by the time she found a clear lane, Cash Control was gone. She ran on decently for second, however, and could improve enough to threaten the favorite Saturday.