Nash slated for first stakes in Gun Runner

Godolphin and trainer Brad Cox will not be wasting any time determining how the talented 2-year-old colt Nash stacks up in stakes competition.

Nash scored a second-start maiden win Nov. 12 at Churchill Downs and is scheduled to have his third outing Dec. 23 at Fair Grounds in the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes.

It’s difficult imagining Nash won’t be favored in the Gun Runner. A 2-year-old dirt route in December offering a $100,000 purse essentially is a glorified allowance race, and Nash has signaled he could be much more than merely an allowance horse.

Nash, by Medaglia d’Oro, is a homebred, the sixth foal to race out of multiple graded-stakes winner Sara Louise, whose best runners have been Spa City and Sara Street. Spa City at age 3 was a regular workmate with Essential Quality, champion 3-year-old of 2021 for Godolphin and Cox. Cox has hope that Nash, his leading 2024 Triple Crown prospect at this point, possesses comparable ability.

“I like him a lot. He’s the best [2-year-old] I got for sure,” Cox said.

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This will be just the third renewal of the Gun Runner. Cox won the race a year ago with the moderate Jace’s Road, while Epicenter captured the 2021 edition on his way to a 3-year-old championship in 2022.

Nash ran well enough debuting Oct. 7 at Keeneland to win most maiden races but finished second by 5 1/4 lengths to Booth, who earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure in that six-furlong contest. Cox had cautioned that a sprint distance would be too short for Nash, who returned Nov. 17 at Churchill to win a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 10 1/4 lengths, earning a 97 Beyer. Nash had his first work following that start Dec. 1 and will breeze Friday at Churchill before shipping Sunday to Fair Grounds.

Cox and Godolphin, meanwhile, have First Mission, runner-up Nov. 24 at Churchill in the Grade 2 Clark, pointed toward the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

First Mission got a career-best 102 Beyer in the Clark and lost by a just nose while facing older stakes foes for the first time in only his fifth start. That, for most horses, would be considered an excellent showing, but First Mission has hinted at star potential, and even with a somewhat demanding trip, there were expectations he still would beat a solid but unspectacular horse like Trademark, who nipped him by a nose. Still, First Mission after being passed was inching closer at the finish, nearly getting back on even terms before galloping out far in front.

“I think he could be a top horse next year,” Cox said.

In other Cox news, Saudi Crown, a decidedly subpar 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, still has the Feb. 24 Saudi Cup as an early-season goal. Cox said a prep race could come Jan. 20 at Fair Grounds in the Louisiana Stakes.

Timberlake, winner of the Grade 1 Champagne and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, remains on winter holiday at WinStar Farm in Kentucky. He won’t be ready for his 3-year-old debut until February or March at the earliest.

As for the Cox-trained 4-year filly Idiomatic, who will be champion female dirt horse of 2023, she is at Juddmonte Farm in Lexington and could race again in 2024. A final decision on whether Idiomatic will return to race or be bred this winter hasn’t yet been reached, according to Garrett O’Rourke, manager of Juddmonte’s Kentucky farm.

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