Cox has possible Derby road planned for Taraz

NEW ORLEANS – Taraz is a big filly and her connections have big plans for her this winter and spring.

If Taraz runs the way trainer Brad Cox hopes on Feb. 1 at Oaklawn in the Martha Washington Stakes, her third start and two-turn debut, Taraz will be pointed for the Rebel Stakes on March 14 at Oaklawn. The Rebel is open to colts and geldings as well as fillies, and Taraz’s presence there could be a prelude to a start in a Triple Crown race.

“I hope that is the plan,” Cox said Thursday when asked about a potential race against males.

Taraz surely won’t be intimidated by male rivals – more likely the other way around. The filly, by Into Mischief out of Silk Route, by Empire Maker, isn’t just tall and long, but powerfully built as well. Galloping under stout restraint Friday morning at Fair Grounds, Taraz covered massive amounts of ground with every stride, pulling against restraint, eager to do more.

Taraz won her career debut, a six-furlong maiden race at Churchill, by 7 ½ lengths, and on Dec. 21 she was a handy 11 ¼-length winner of the Letellier Stakes here at Fair Grounds. Taraz has worked twice since that start, going an in-company half-mile in 46.80 seconds Sunday, fastest of 136 works at the distance.

If Taraz indeed winds up facing males, it will help Cox separate the top 3-year-old fillies in his stable. Also stabled at Fair Grounds and pointing for the Feb. 15 Rachel Alexandra Stakes here is Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner British Idiom, who won all three of her 2019 starts and is expected to be named champion 2-year-old filly. Cox was to start the filly Portrait on Saturday in the Silverbulletday Stakes.

About an hour after Taraz went through her paces Friday morning, the leading 3-year-old filly of 2018, Monomoy Girl, took to the track for the second time since arriving in Cox’s barn earlier this week. Monomoy Girl hasn’t raced since winning the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and was sent back to a Florida farm last fall after being taken out of training. Monomoy Girl, who jogged alongside a stable pony Friday, has matured and gained a considerable amount of heft since she was brought back to Fair Grounds last winter.

Still getting a winter breather in Florida is another Cox-trained filly who will win an Eclipse Award for 2019, Covfefe, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner this past November. Covfefe is expected to be shipped to Fair Grounds sometime this month.