Ezmosh gives Cox another Arlington Classic win

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A year after trainer Brad Cox won the Grade 3, $100,000 Arlington Classic with Cowboy Culture he won it again Saturday with Ezmosh, who got crushed late in the wagering and was substantially best in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.

Ezmosh, with Jose Valdivia Jr. riding for Cox and owners Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, and Zayat Stables, won by 2 1/2 lengths. The winner was clearly superior, but second, third, and fourth were very close, with trainer Ignacio Correas nabbing second with Pont Du Gard and third with Cuestion de Tiempo, relegating Queens Plate-prepping Alternative Route to fourth. Second choice The Money Dance didn’t take to turf – at least Arlington’s yielding version of it Saturday – in his first grass try and checked in a distant seventh.

The real summer riches in the 3-year-old turf division sit on the East Coast and until the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes here in August, Arlington gets second-tier sorts of sophomore grass horses. Ezmosh has some ways to go to get beyond that classification, but he’s now 2 for 2 on grass, and his narrow defeat by Bravazo earlier this winter on Oaklawn dirt has aged well, Bravazo having run Justify to a relatively narrow margin in the Preakness Stakes.

Ezmosh broke on top Saturday and was personally interested in going to the front, but Valdivia had other ideas and after a brief disagreement between horse and rider into the first turn Ezmosh relented, settling in behind Cuestion de Tiempo. There he stayed through splits of 24.43 and 48.46 before Valdivia played his hand past the three-furlong pole. Ezmosh came two paths wide, collared Cuestion de Tiempo with little trouble and edged away from there, stopping the timer in 1:45.52. Ezmosh was favored throughout the wagering but a late rush of win money knocked him to 1-2 and he paid just $3. Ezmosh was given 77 Beyer Speed Figure.

After floundering in the Southwest Stakes in February at Oaklawn, Ezmosh was sent to Fair Grounds, where he won a turf allowance race March 25.

“I thought he was kind of green in that race, trying to get his head up,” said assistant trainer Ricky Giannini, who saddled Ezmosh for Cox here Saturday. “He did it a little bit today, but he was better. You can see that the talent is there.”

Ezmosh is by Tizway (who, as the sire of Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes winner Backyard Heaven, is having a good May) and out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Eagle Island. He won for the third time in nine starts and would be a natural candidate for the American Derby here in July.