Cox confirms Prom Queen will run in Acorn Stakes

Brad Cox on Thursday afternoon confirmed what he’d hinted at last week – Kentucky Oaks fourth-place finisher Prom Queen runs next in the Grade 1 Acorn at Saratoga.

“She breezed great this morning. She’s a go for the Acorn,” Cox said.

The Thursday workout at Churchill Downs marked Prom Queen’s second drill since the Kentucky Oaks. On May 14, she breezed a half-mile inside a workmate in 48.60, and this week, Prom Queen went five-eighths in 59.20. The filly looks sharp, which is important, since she fell much too far behind the leaders in the Oaks before making a sustained run to reach contention.

Cox seemed even more exuberant about the way Blue Grass Stakes winner Further Ado has been breezing. Cox spoke glowingly Thursday about Further Ado’s half-mile work on May 15, and Friday morning, Further Ado went out and drilled five furlongs in a bullet 59.60. He runs June 7 in the Matt Winn at Churchill, but Cox said the major goal is the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park.

◗ Expensive Queen, who dead-heated for win in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley last month at Keeneland – a race she wins outright in one more jump – came out of an April 30 work at Turfway Park with a relatively minor injury that will keep her from starting in the Grade 1 New York Stakes at Saratoga. Trainer Brendan Walsh hopes to have Expensive Queen back racing late this summer.