Cox figures to be a regular presence in stakes

Time will tell if Brad Cox can repeat as leading trainer at the Fair Grounds meet, but there’s little doubt Cox will be heard from in a wide swath of stakes races this season.

Start with the 3-year-old filly division of 2018, where Cox is represented by Monomoy Girl. Monomoy Girl lost for the first time in four starts this past Saturday in the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs, but she lost little in defeat. After contesting a strong pace in the two-turn 1 1/16 mile race, Monomoy Girl was tagged by a neck by the very talented Road to Victory while finishing almost six lengths clear of the third-place horse in a field of 12. Monomoy Girl got a 91 Beyer Speed Figure, a career-best and one of the top 2-year-old-filly figures in North America this year.

“She came out of the race in good shape,” Cox said Wednesday. “She could have been shying away from the stick there a little at the sixteenth pole, but it was a good race, a great time.”

Monomoy Girl, a Tapizar filly owned by Michael Dubb and Monomoy Stables, remains stabled at Churchill but will soon ship into Cox’s string at Fair Grounds. No set plans have been made for her 2018 season, but it seems likely her connections will pass the Silverbulletday Stakes on Jan. 13 and point for the Rachel Alexandra Stakes on Feb. 17 at Fair Grounds.

“The goal is to get her to the Kentucky Oaks the best way we can,” said Cox.

Cox is loaded with 2-year-olds this year, and others to watch for in Fair Grounds stakes are Sassy Siena and Ezmosh. The unbeaten, thrice-started Louisiana-bred 2-year-old colt Gladyousawme starts next on Dec. 9 in the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile.

Cox has a trio of 3-year-old turf horses under consideration for the Dec. 30 Woodchopper Stakes – Mr. Misunderstood, Cowboy Culture, and Adonis Creed. Mr. Misunderstood is the most accomplished of those three and stands the greatest chance of impacting turf stakes early next year at Fair Grounds while facing older horses. Perhaps the best 3-year-old grass horse in the stable is Arklow, who is training at Fair Grounds but not yet working after returning from a layoff.