Cox hopes he can give Matera a good send-off in Chilukki

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Matera didn’t exist in the same realm as Knicks Go and Essential Quality during yet another breakthrough season for trainer Brad Cox, but give her another 10 years or so.

Like those two Cox superstars of 2021, Matera is headed to the breeding shed, where her impeccable pedigree makes her a highly prized commodity. The gray daughter of the world-class sire Tapit was produced by Miss Macy Sue, “and that makes her a half-sister to Not This Time and Liam’s Map,” said Cox, referring to two of the hottest young sires in the industry.

“It’s about time for her to start making some babies,” he said.

It is Cox’s work this year with Matera that has substantially enhanced her value as a broodmare prospect for her owner, the Don Alberto Stable of Carlos Heller. A winner in just one of four starts in California at 2 and 3, Matera suddenly became a force on the racetrack at 4, winning three of four starts under Cox’s care. She’ll make her career farewell Saturday in the Grade 3, $300,0000 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs.

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“It’d be great to get her some graded type,” said Cox.

After winning a March allowance at Oaklawn Park, Matera won a pair of ungraded stakes, the Mari Hulman George at Indiana Grand and the Groupie Doll at Ellis Park. She then was fourth behind Shedaresthedevil, another Cox trainee, in her graded debut, the Grade 3 Locust Grove on Sept. 18 at Churchill. Since then, she’s had six breezes at Churchill, the latest a five-furlong move Sunday in 1:01.

Matera, with Florent Geroux riding, was among a medium-sized field also expected to include Princess Causeway, She Can’t Sing, Pass the Plate, and a few more fillies and mares when entries for the one-mile Chilukki were drawn Wednesday.

Cox, like all other Churchill trainers, is making plans to break camp soon. He expects his entries for the closing-week graded stakes to be relatively light, with Bonny South for the Falls City and Famed for the Golden Rod his only confirmed starters. After the 21-day fall meet ends Nov. 28, Cox will be active at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, and Turfway Park, with his Aqueduct string perhaps being phased out next month and his 2020-21 experiment of sending a string to Palm Meadows in Florida being a one-and-done thing.

“I’ll spend most of my time between Fair Grounds and Oaklawn,” he said.

Into Wednesday, stable earnings for Cox stood at a career high of more than $29.5 million, a remarkable figure that leads all North American trainers in 2021. Steve Asmussen, who also soon will be sending his best horses from Churchill to Fair Grounds and Oaklawn, is next with $28.6 million.

Those numbers, combined with his 10 wins in Grade 1 races such as the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Belmont Stakes, and Travers, strongly suggest Cox is in line for a second straight Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer. Voting will conclude shortly after 2021 ends.

“I don’t have a vote,” he said with a laugh, “but obviously it’s based off all the numbers and your overall body of work. We’ll have to see how it goes.”