Cox losing Cyberknife to breeding shed soon, but reinforcements are in place
Cyberknife, beaten a head in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last month at Keeneland, will race in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup before going off to stud at Spendthrift Farm for the 2023 breeding season.
Cyberknife’s trainer, Brad Cox, said on Sunday that the 3-year-old colt had recently arrived at Fair Grounds, where he’ll prepare for his career finale on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.
In April, Cyberknife won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Spendthrift this past August acquired Cyberknife’s breeding rights from owner Al Gold after the colt won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 18. Cyberknife went on to finish second in the Travers Stakes and third in the Pennsylvania Derby before losing to Cody’s Wish in the BC Dirt Mile. Shortly after that race he was shown off to breeders at Spendthrift before rejoining Cox’s barn for one final race.
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By Gun Runner out of Awesome Flower, by Flower Alley, Cyberknife began his career in September 2021 and has raced without a meaningful break since, but Cox said he sees no sign of weariness in the colt.
“His weight’s unbelievable,” he said. “He looks great.”
Cox won the 2021 Pegasus with Knicks Go, who finished second in the 2022 renewal before going off to stud.
Cox’s vast stable this fall brims with talented 2-year-old males. The best of them is Loggins, who remains sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Cox hopes Loggins can join his string at Fair Grounds “by the end of December.”
“He’s getting a little bit of a break – no surgeries or anything,” said Cox.
Loggins, by Ghostzapper, was a smart debut sprint winner in September at Churchill Downs, and in his second start fought tooth and nail with subsequent BC Juvenile hero Forte, coming up a neck short in the Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 8 at Keeneland. Loggins hasn’t been in regular training since that start and will require time to regain fitness toward his 2023 debut once he arrives in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, the Cox-trained Kentucky Jockey Club winner Instant Coffee won’t get much of a break and will make his next start either in the Jan. 21 Lecomte at Fair Grounds or the Southwest Stakes a week later at Oaklawn Park. Instant Coffee, by Bolt d’Oro, got just an 82 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Grade 2 KJC at Churchill after finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Futurity.
On Beyers, Giant Mischief is the fastest 2-year-old in the Cox barn, having earned a 95 winning a first-level allowance Nov. 4 at Keeneland, where he ran down the heavily favored Bob Baffert-trained Arabian Lion. That game victory followed a debut win at Horseshoe Indianapolis, and Cox now is pointing Giant Mischief toward the Dec. 17 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. His participation in that race depends upon how Remington treats potential shippers from Churchill Downs, which is managing an outbreak of equine herpesvirus.
Giant Mischief is by Into Mischief out of Vertical Oak. He excelled going seven furlongs at Keeneland and Cox isn’t entirely convinced the colt is meant to be a route horse.
“Just based off the physical and his pedigree,” Cox said. “With the configuration of Remington, it’s a great chance to see if he can go two turns.”
At least four more Cox-trained 2-year-old males bear watching.
Corona Bolt got an 82 Beyer winning his debut going six furlongs last month at Churchill and could make his next start Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds in the six-furlong Sugar Bowl.
“We’ll try to build some foundation into him,” Cox said of the Bolt d’Oro colt.
Verifying, second in the Grade 1 Champagne, a one-turn mile, and sixth going two turns in the BC Juvenile, worked three furlongs on Dec. 3 at Fair Grounds and is being pointed to a first-level allowance race later this month.
Victory Formation, a debut victor in October at Keeneland before capturing a first-level sprint allowance last month at Churchill Downs, arrived at Fair Grounds last week. By Tapwrit, Victory Formation will make his next start around two turns, with the Southwest a more likely spot than the Dec. 26 Gun Runner at Fair Grounds, Cox said.
While Cox still has to determine whether these colts can extend their speed over a route of ground, no such question exists with Tapit Shoes. A distant sixth debuting over a sloppy track in an Oct. 30 Churchill route race, Tapit Shoes won a two-turn Fair Grounds maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths on Dec. 3. While the performance produced a modest 74 Beyer, Tapit Shoes, a Tapit colt who’s a half-brother to Cyberknife, raced greenly in his win and still has ample room to improve
“He has a ton of stamina, will run all day, but he’s still figuring things out,” Cox said. “His first race, he was all over the place. He was better the other day and is going to be a lot better. He’s a little bit like Cyberknife was.”
Cox last week also won a Fair Grounds 2-year-old filly first-level allowance race with Batucada and a 2-year-old filly maiden route with The Alys Look. Batucada, who’d won a one-turn Churchill maiden mile in her Sept. 16 career debut, overcame a speed biased surface in her allowance win, rallying to a 3 1/4-length score that yielded a 78 Beyer, a big number by the standards of this 2-year-old filly crop.
“She got a little sick after her first race, missed a little time,” Cox said. “We worked her back twice and I felt I was running her at maybe 85, 90 percent.”
Batucada could next start Jan. 21 in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds, while The Alys Look, who got a 72 Beyer for her seven-length front-running maiden victory, will likely show up in a first-level allowance.
Dazzling Blue, an eye-catching winner of her career debut Nov. 16 at Churchill, is a possible runner in the six-furlong Letellier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. Chop Chop, last of 13 in the BC Juvenile Fillies with no apparent excuse, Cox said, is stabled at Fair Grounds with no immediate target race.
Three-year-old colt Zozos, second in the Louisiana Derby and most recently 10th in the Kentucky Derby, has gotten onto a steady work pattern, with Cox seeking a suitable second-level allowance for a comeback start.
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