Coach makes first start since Kentucky Oaks

Coach has a license to be a player in the filly and mare stakes ranks this meet at Oaklawn Park. She will begin moving in that direction Friday when she makes her first start since the Kentucky Oaks.

Coach goes in the eighth race, a two-other-than allowance for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles. The Brad Cox trainee is part of a field of seven that includes Steve Asmussen trainees Jilted Bride, the possible favorite, and Aura.

Cox and Asmussen, who are chasing the North American earnings record for a calendar year, also have runners in the other high-end offering on the card, a first-level allowance for 2-year-olds at six furlongs. The races are worth a combined $201,000.

Coach is making her first start since April 30, when she finished ninth in the Kentucky Oaks. She earned a trip to the big dance by running second and third in a pair of points races at Oaklawn.

“She ran a good bit at 2 and then the goal was to try to get to the Kentucky Oaks,” Cox said. “She obviously received enough points to make the field. After that race, we thought it was time to freshen her up. She deserved some time off.”

Coach will in all likelihood be headed to the stakes ranks in the near future.

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“This race popped up, and we thought it would be a great place to get started back up,” Cox said. “She’s a stakes winner, and she’s graded stakes-placed, and the goal is to win a graded stakes with her this coming year. This is a great race to get her back going and hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things down the road.”

Coach will be meeting older rivals for the first time, but has some key variables in her favor. She owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, an 81, and will be back on the diuretic Lasix.

Her win at age 2 in the Rags to Riches at Churchill Downs came at the 1 1/16-mile distance she travels Friday. Coach could get a favorable setup, too, if W W Fitzy and Aura keep Hypernova company on the front end Friday.

Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount from post 7.

“She likes Oaklawn,” said Cox, who trains Coach for Kueber Racing. “She ran well in the 3-year-old filly series last meet.”

Jilted Bride is another who would benefit from an honest pace. She is back at the distance of her two Oaklawn wins after racing over 1 1/8 miles last out when third in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm at Aqueduct. Ramon Vazquez has the mount from post 4.

In the sixth race, Cox sends out In Dreams. He pops off the page for the Beyer of 85 he earned for a 6 1/2-length win over $150,000 maiden-claiming rivals Nov. 24 at Churchill. In Dreams will break from post 4 under Florent Geroux.

“He’s pretty quick away from there,” Cox said. “His first start, he really didn’t show that, didn’t break well. I would say he’d be up in the mix.”

Asmussen will counter with another impressive maiden winner in Chasing Time.