Cox ships in to Prairie Meadows for shot at trio of stakes
Brad Cox this weekend has himself decamped to Belmont Park, where he has a bevy of live horses entered in a slew of Grade 1 races Saturday, including likely favorite Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes.
This is the sort of thing you’d expect from the Eclipse Award-winning trainer of 2020. A less obvious zone of attack is the three-horse raiding party Cox has sent for a trio of $50,000 stakes races Friday evening at Prairie Meadows.
Cox runs Gagetown in the Prairie Mile for 3-year-olds, Sister Annie in the Panthers for 3-year-old fillies over one mile, and Plainsmen in the Jim Rasmussen, a 1 1/16-mile contest for older horses. All will be among the favorites, and the trio each could bring home trophies, though these races are quite sturdy considering their respective purses, roughly half a maiden special weight pot over the winter at Aqueduct.
Gagetown, who drew the outside post in an eight-horse field, is 5-2 on the track’s morning line, and that would be too short a price to take on a colt still eligible for a first-level allowance race after six starts and who might prefer a mile around one turn to this two-turn test. Gagetown does come off a decent fourth in the Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn, but his Beyer Speed Figures haven’t budged his the last three starts and, with a short run to the first turn, the wide draw does him and jockey Fernando De La Cruz no favors.
Flash of Mischief won the Golden Circle going six furlongs at Prairie in his most recent race and probably can stay one mile, but his chances hinge on his ability to take back from an inside post and rate behind likely leaders Stilleto Boy and Chicks Dig Scars. Sermononthemount, locally owned by Maggi Moss, rates a chance, but the pick is Steve Asmussen-trained Convention, an improving Constitution colt most recently fifth facing stronger competition in the May 1 Oaklawn Stakes. That race’s one-two finishers, Fulsome and Warrant (both trained by Cox), returned to win, respectively, the Matt Winn and the Texas Derby.
Sister Annie, speed and the rail under De La Cruz, is listed as the 5-2 second choice in the six-runner Panthers. Oliviaofthedesert is the 9-5 morning-line favorite here and merits that standing. Any of her last four dirt races would probably suffice to capture the Panthers, though she does need Hypernova and Ghurkha Gold to show enough speed to keep Sister Annie from shaking loose.
The Rasmussen drew six entrants but goes with no more than five starters since trainer Karl Broberg said via text message that Hunka Burning Love, fourth May 31 in the Steve Sexton Mile, would be scratched. That could leave Plainsman as the race’s controlling speed, bad news for Rated R Superstar, who was third last summer in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker and won a recent local allowance race.
First post for the card is 6 p.m. Central, and you can catch all the action at DRFBets.com.