Cox pleased with how Just One Time is doing

NEW ORLEANS – Just One Time, a 4-year-old filly who could emerge as a prominent part of the older filly and mare dirt-sprint division, worked an easy half-mile in 50 seconds Friday morning at Fair Grounds.

The breeze was her first since she overcame a difficult trip to win the Grade 2 Inside Information Stakes on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park, her first start for trainer Brad Cox. Pennsylvania-bred Just One Time was privately purchased last fall after winning four of five starts, and posting a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, for trainer Michael Salvaggio.

“When we first got her in here, she trained forward,” Cox said. “We liked her. Being a graded stakes, the Inside Information was a big win for her.”

Cox said Just One Time’s next start could come April 9 at Keeneland in the Grade 1, $500,000 Madison Stakes over seven furlongs. Keeneland is the site of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup and Just One Time, even without a great deal of further development, could prove good enough for a race like that. Her Madison opposition is expected to include Bell’s the One, stabled 50 yards away from Just One Time in trainer Neil Pessin’s Fair Grounds barn.

Cox also said he plans to ship 4-year-old Warrant from New Orleans to California for the Grade 1, $650,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5. Warrant, by Constitution, won the Oklahoma Derby to cap his 2022 campaign. He ran into fellow 4-year-olds Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon, two top members of the crop, while beaten more than nine lengths finishing third Jan. 22 in the Louisiana Stakes.

Cox cited the Santa Anita Handicap’s 1 1/4-mile distance as a prime factor in picking the race.

“We think a mile and a quarter is something he can do,” Cox said. “It’s a great opportunity to take a swing at a Grade 1.”

◗ Mandaloun, the Louisiana Stakes winner, arrived without incident on Thursday in Saudi Arabia, where he contests the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 26. Cox said Mandaloun will have a walk day and a training-track jog in his first two days of exercise before a 48-hour international quarantine period ends and he can have a main-track gallop Sunday.