Cox hoping Blue Grass is run over fast track

Just a Touch, who finished second as the favorite in the Grade 3 Gotham on March 2 at Aqueduct, will make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes on April 6 at Keeneland, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Wednesday.

“It’s a Grade 1 and we just think it’s a very good spot for him,” Cox communicated via text.

Just a Touch, a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, was a 4 1/4-length winner of a six-furlong maiden race in the slop on Jan. 27 at Fair Grounds. He shipped to Aqueduct for the Gotham, where he was sent off the 8-5 favorite in an 11-horse field.

After stalking the pace while wide over the sloppy track, Just a Touch fought on to finish second, two lengths behind Deterministic, who, like Just a Touch, had made just one previous start.

At the time, Cox said he was pleased with Just a Touch’s effort, adding that he was looking forward to running him over a dry, fast track.

Cox also plans on running Encino in the Blue Grass. Encino, a son of Nyquist, is 2 for 3, including a victory in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in March.

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The Blue Grass also is expected to attract Sierra Leone, winner of the Risen Star Stakes, and Dornoch, the Fountain of Youth winner. Last December at Aqueduct, Dornoch beat Sierra Leone by a nose.

El Grande O works for Wood

El Grande O, the third-place finisher in the Grade 3 Gotham, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 on Wednesday morning at Belmont Park in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 6 at Aqueduct.

Trainer Linda Rice said she was pleased with the work, which was done in company and will be El Grande O’s last work before the Wood.

“I’m spacing them out a bit,” Rice said. “He’s not a big horse. I don’t want to breeze him on top of the race.”

Rice added that Dylan Davis will ride El Grande O for the first time in the Wood.

The Wood could attract a full field of 14 runners. Deterministic, the expected favorite, was to have his final breeze for the race Friday at Payson Park in Florida before shipping to New York on Sunday.

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