Concert Tour nearing a race for new trainer Cox
Early in 2021, Brad Cox was scouting Concert Tour, watching him train and race and wondering how his own promising 3-year-olds stacked up against the Bob Baffert-trained colt. In the Arkansas Derby, Cox-trained Caddo River finished second, a head in front of Concert Tour.
Fast forward to fall and Cox’s perspective has radically changed: He now trains Concert Tour, and after the colt had his first work at Fair Grounds, going a half-mile in 49.80 seconds Sunday morning, Cox is scouting condition books, looking for a race.
“He’s getting very close,” Cox said.
Concert Tour was one of three prominent Cox-trained horses to work Sunday in New Orleans. Leading the trio was Knicks Go, who will be named 2021 Horse of the Year when Eclipse Award winners are revealed early next year. Knicks Go’s 2021 campaign began in January, when he won the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, and included a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he was a disappointing fourth in the Saudi Cup. He finished fourth in the Met Mile on June 5, then won four in a row racing at Prairie Meadows, Saratoga, Churchill Downs, and Del Mar, where he romped in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
That sounds like a schedule to sap a racehorse’s energy, but Knicks Go – who is scheduled for one final race, a repeat bid next month in the Pegasus, before going to stud – evidently is training with verve. He worked an easy half on Sunday, also clocking 49.80 while breezing by himself and giving Cox good vibes.
“He definitely doesn’t seem like he’s regressed one bit from the Breeders’ Cup and racing all year. He’s just had the two easy works post-Breeders’ Cup, but both went as well as you could’ve asked,” Cox said.
Mandaloun also had his first work Sunday since shipping to New Orleans from Kentucky, going a half-mile in 50.80. Mandaloun won the Risen Star Stakes last February at Fair Grounds and as the second-place Kentucky Derby finisher he stands to be elevated to first if Medina Spirit is disqualified because he tested positive for an illegal race-day medication.
Mandaloun remains on track for a mid-January comeback, which would mark his first start since being placed first via Hot Rod Charlie’s disqualification in the Haskell Stakes on July 17. The Louisiana Stakes on Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds is one obvious option for Mandaloun, whose connections have designs on the $20 million Saudi Cup in February.
Concert Tour could make his Cox debut as soon as Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds in the $100,000 Tenacious Stakes, though Cox did not commit to that spot. Concert Tour won the Rebel Stakes before his third in the Arkansas Derby. After passing the Kentucky Derby, he essentially was eased in the Preakness and hasn’t raced since.
“He’s doing really well, had two good five-eighths before shipping down,” Cox said.
Concert Tour, a homebred, races for prominent owners Gary and Mary West, who began sending Cox horses this past spring.
◗ Friday’s featured seventh race, a second-level dirt-sprint allowance with a $40,000 claiming option, drew eight entrants, among them Shackleford Strong, 12-1 on the morning line, a sleeper who can lead all the way with an alert break under Mitchell Murrill.