Cox barn will be well stocked at Fair Grounds

The 2018 Kentucky Oaks winner, her 2-year-old brother, and a couple fillies who could wind up being 2020 Oaks horses figure among a broad swath of talented stock trainer Brad Cox will have stabled at Fair Grounds in New Orleans this winter.

Cox, leading Fair Grounds trainer the last two seasons, still has plenty of horses in Kentucky for the end of the Churchill Downs meeting and as usual he’ll also run a division at Oaklawn Park, but his Fair Grounds barn should teem with talent.

Let’s start with the young prospects who have nearer-term goals in New Orleans. Taraz, a Juddmonte Farms homebred 2-year-old Into Mischief filly who won her career debut Nov. 14 at Churchill by more than seven lengths, tentatively is being aimed at the Letellier Stakes, a six-furlong dirt race Dec. 21. Cox believes Taraz eventually can become a route horse but wants to sprint her again before stretching out.

“She looks like a two-turn horse – a big, strong filly who should carry her speed,” Cox said.

British Idiom, another Cox-trained 2-year-old filly, already has proven she can route, winning the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland in her route debut, then capturing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by a neck over Donna Veloce. British Idiom is scheduled to join Cox’s string in New Orleans in a few weeks and will be aimed at the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 15.

That’s the same race in which Monomoy Girl began a 2018 campaign that led to victory in the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Monomoy Girl hasn’t started since winning the BC Distaff a year ago and had ceaseless issues while Cox attempted to get her back to the races this year, but her connections aren’t giving up on a comeback. Monomoy Girl currently resides at an Ocala, Fla., farm but is set to come into Cox’s barn in early January, he said.

Meanwhile, Monomoy Girl’s 2-year-old half-brother, Mr. Monomoy, could face other winners for the first time and make his two-turn debut in a first-level allowance race Dec. 21. Mr. Monomoy, by Palace Malice, finished fourth after a terrible start making his career debut at Keeneland and scored an eye-catching win in a 6 1/2-furloing Churchill maiden race Nov. 16.

Cox has other 2-year-olds that also bear watching. The filly Portrait, third as the favorite in the Grade 2 Pocahontas on Sept. 14 at Churchill, hasn’t worked since her most recent start but is steadily training at Fair Grounds. The 2-year-old gelding Answer In is pointed toward the Springboard Mile at Remington after a second-start maiden romp Oct. 27 at Churchill.

Arklow, eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf after winning the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in October, will be stabled in New Orleans and aimed toward the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf on Jan. 26 at Sam Houston.

And finally, Covfeve, winner of the BC Filly and Mare Sprint last out, is getting a well-deserved rest at a Florida farm and is expected to come into Cox’s barn at Fair Grounds in January. There are no local races for the filly, with whom Cox could target races like the Madison at Keeneland in April and the Humana Distaff in May at Churchill.

Serengeti Empress gets break

Serengeti Empress, winner of the Kentucky Oaks last May and most recently third after setting the pace in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, is having some late autumn down time in Florida but will meet up with trainer Tom Amoss’s stable at Fair Grounds about Jan. 1, Amoss said.

Amoss said the plan was to give Serengeti Empress about 45 days off before returning her to Fair Grounds, where she was based last winter and won the Rachel Alexandra Stakes.

“It shouldn’t take that long to get her ready,” Amoss said. “Realistically, we’ll be looking at something in mid-February for her. There aren’t races for her at Fair Grounds, and we’ll almost assuredly target the stakes schedule at Oaklawn.”