Cox finds success with diversified client base
It was five years ago next week that Brad Cox got a phone call from an attorney informing him that 30 horses owned by his only client were being removed from his Churchill Downs barn.
The split with Midwest Thoroughbreds taught Cox not to put all his eggs in one basket. He found himself in full rebuild mode during that first week of August 2012.
“It all seems like such a long time ago now,” Cox recalled by phone this week from Saratoga. “I was disappointed, I guess you could say. I decided it was time to go out and recruit some horses.”
Cox now is one of the most successful trainers in America, with horses spread among Saratoga, Indiana Grand, Churchill, and Ellis Park. His record at Indiana into Wednesday stood at 15 for 55, while his 10 wins from 20 starters at Ellis leads all trainers at the western Kentucky track. His stable earnings of $4.8 million ranks eighth in North America, and he is on pace to easily surpass his career high of $6.29 million set last year.
He has been particularly hot at Ellis, which resumes another three-day week Friday. Two years ago, Cox was the leading trainer at Ellis with 11 wins despite taking his best horses to Saratoga.
“I’d hope we’ll have enough horses to run” to win the title again, he said. “We’ve had a great meet so far and we’ll just continue to do what’s been successful.”
Six of Cox’s 10 winners have been favored, but the $2 ROI on his horses stands at $4.17, helped by a July 22 upset by Snack Shack at a $20.20 mutuel. He also won the first of six stakes at the 31-day meet when Inveniam Viam captured the July 8 Ellis Park Turf, and he has designs on the Grade 3 Groupie Doll on Aug. 13 with Tiger Moth and Pinch Hit.
Cox, a 37-year-old father of three, grew up in Louisville, not far from Churchill. He has been careful not to become too dependent on a single owner, having expanded to well more than a dozen clients.
“I don’t want a ton of horses for one owner because I don’t ever want to feel again like someone owns me,” he said.