Ezmosh may be at home on Arlington Classic turf

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – You can bet the celebration was on for Brad Cox when Monomoy Girl won the Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill Downs, just a couple blocks from Cox’s boyhood home.

But since that day Cox-trained horses have been a bad bet for horseplayers. From May 5 through May 23, Cox’s record is 5-4-7 from 33 starts, a 15 percent strike rate well below his standard. And the $2 return on investment for those 33 runners is a paltry 66 cents.

All this will be pertinent at Arlington on Saturday for the Grade 3, $100,000 Arlington Classic, which has the Cox-trained Ezmosh as a likely favorite. Ezmosh’s claim to fame this year is finishing second by a neck Jan. 13 at Oaklawn to Bravazo, who would go on to win the Risen Star Stakes and was coming hard at Justify in the Preakness Stakes. Ezmosh went on to finish 10th in the Southwest Stakes, which earned him a move to turf, where he won a first-level allowance March 25 at Fair Grounds.

“He was running well enough on the dirt to keep us in the Derby dream until that came crashing down in the Southwest,” Cox said. “I feel like taking the next step in graded stakes company could happen on the grass.”

Ezmosh has been in steady training since winning his turf debut. The American Turf at Churchill was considered and rejected as slightly too ambitious.

“It was wait for this race if he didn’t go there,” Cox said. “I like him on grass.

“He’s got a big foot on him, and that sire can get a turf horse,” Cox said, referring to the stallion Tizway.

Ezmosh has Jose Valdivia Jr. named to ride and is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Classic (race 8, post time 5:13 Central), which drew seven others. Kitten a Gettin, Cuestion de Tiempo, Pont Du Gard, Wildscore, and Papa Rizzo all appear underqualified, leaving The Money Dance and Alternative Route as Ezmosh alternatives.

Neither of those two has tried turf, but Alternative Route won the March 17 Rushaway Stakes over Turfway Park Polytrack. Trainer Al Stall worked Alternative Route on turf April 29 at Churchill, and though the horse was given a slow time, Stall said he finished well and impressed jockey Adam Beschizza. But Stall also is clear that the Arlington Classic is a prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate next month at Woodbine.

“I just want him to take to the grass and get something out of it – and hopefully win, too,” Stall said.

The Money Dance has improved considerably the last several months and if nothing else is an unusually talented Indiana-bred. By Jimmy Creed out of the Pure Prize mare Whistlin’ Jean, The Money Dance has excelled in route races, winning an Oaklawn Park maiden by seven lengths and a Belmont first-level allowance in his two most recent outings.

“It’s a guess,” said trainer Mike Lauer, asked about The Money Dance’s turf prospects. “His mother ran good on the turf, and Jimmy Creed, a couple of them have run well on the turf. We thought it was a good time to try it.”

On paper, at least, Lauer is right.