Cox happy to have handful of Juddmonte horses

NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Brad Cox’s ever-advancing racing stable has attracted a new client of international renown – Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms.

Cox, who entering Friday’s races was the leading trainer at Fair Grounds with 33 wins and at Oaklawn with 12, has been training a handful of Juddmonte horses since last fall. The first to arrive and the first to race was the 4-year-old Speed Gun, who made an eye-catching debut Tuesday at Fair Grounds, leading all the way in a two-turn turf maiden race that he won by 5 1/4 lengths under Florent Geroux.

Speed Gun, by First Defence and out of the Group 1 winner Announce, earned a strong 89 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s a big, long horse we thought wanted to run long,” Cox said. “The biggest drawback we’ve had with him training is the way he acts in the gate. He didn’t break all that well in his race, either.”

No matter – Speed Gun was much the best. Cox said Juddmonte contacted him in October about taking some horses, and after a conversation with Garrett O’Rourke, manager of Juddmonte’s Kentucky division, he was brought into the fold.

“We’ve got four in total now,” said Cox.

Cox won with two first-time starters in turf routes Tuesday, and his record with grass starters at this meet is a heady 63-27-8-12.