Cox, Asmussen back to pursuing Churchill training title

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fresh off a Kentucky Derby weekend that neither will ever forget, trainers Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen already have returned to their daily routines for the balance of the Churchill Downs spring meet.

Cox, a Louisville native, enjoyed the greatest victory of his career when Monomoy Girl held off Wonder Gadot in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. Less than 24 hours later, Asmussen sent out the 8,000th winner of his Hall of Fame career when Lookin At Lee won the third race on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

One of them is now likely to emerge as the leading trainer at a 38-day meet, which runs through June 30. Asmussen, the all-time Churchill leader in meet titles won (18), typically has more stock at his disposal and therefore would have to be considered the favorite – although Cox was the leading trainer at the 2017 September and fall meets at Churchill before topping the standings at the 2017-18 Fair Grounds meet and tying for top honors at the recent Keeneland spring meet.

After the first six cards at Churchill, where action resumes Thursday with an eight-race card starting at 5 p.m. Eastern, Asmussen and Ian Wilkes are tied for the top spot with five wins each, while Cox has three wins.

Cox said Monday he is skeptical about a Churchill three-peat, although he was still flying high from the dramatic Oaks win.

“We’ve run hard already this year at Keeneland and Fair Grounds, and even at Oaklawn Park,” Cox said. “We have a lot of young horses coming up and I’m excited about those, but we probably won’t get them started until a little later.”

Monomoy Girl, he added, was scheduled to resume training Tuesday at Churchill with an easy jog. The Grade 1 Acorn, a one-turn-mile race on the June 9 Belmont Stakes card, is the likely next target as he and the filly’s owners – a four-way partnership that includes the Monomoy Stables of Sol Kumin – work backward from their year-end goal, the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill.

“We don’t have to decide about the Acorn for another month or so, but it’s a definite possibility,” he said. “I wouldn’t be scared at all to turn her back like that. It’d be nice to showcase her on such a big day.”

Asmussen, meanwhile, has wasted little time in his dogged pursuit of the North American record for career training wins (9,445) held by the late Dale Baird. After Lookin At Lee, he had six more winners – the Derby Day finale with Limation, and five at Lone Star Park over a two-day period, including Bee Jersey in the Steve Sexton Mile on Sunday – bringing his total to 8,006 before his next starters run Thursday.