Once again, first weekend in August belongs to Cox

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For trainer Brad Cox, there really is something about the first weekend of August.

On Aug. 4, 2012, Cox announced he had lost virtually his entire stable after being fired by Midwest Thoroughbreds.

On Aug. 3, 2013, he won his first stakes in rebuild mode when Ms Anna Destiny won at Mountaineer Park.

On the weekend of Aug. 5-6, 2017, he set a personal record by winning five stakes – three at Louisiana Downs, one at Mountaineer, and one at Saratoga.

On the weekend of Aug. 4-5, 2018, he matched that record by winning five stakes again – three at Mountaineer and two at Ellis Park.

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And lo and behold, the third time Cox won as many as five stakes on one weekend was this past one, Aug. 3-4, 2019. This time the quintet included two major events – the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga with Covfefe and the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon at Del Mar with Beau Recall – along with ungraded races at Saratoga, Mountaineer, and Ellis.

“Pretty amazing stuff, huh,” said Cox, a 39-year-old lifelong Louisville, Ky., resident whose primary base is Churchill Downs. “I never could’ve imagined it’d be like this. I really am humbled.”

Cox was back at Churchill this week from Saratoga and will be watching closely when his first champion Monomoy Girl is sent through her first morning breeze since a lengthy respite. The top 3-year-old filly of 2018, unraced since winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff here last November, Monomoy Girl has been back in serious training at Churchill since mid-July and is scheduled to work Friday or Saturday. Cox is hoping to get at least one race in the Tapizar filly before the 2019 BC Distaff on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

Covfefe also will have one start before the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, said Cox, probably either in the Dogwood at Churchill or Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland, while Beau Recall will be pointed to the First Lady at Keeneland as her final prep for the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

As for the coming weekend, Cox has the probable favorite in Moonlit Garden at Ellis for the $125,000 Groupie Doll, which will be run for the 38th time Sunday at the western Kentucky track. Other fillies and mares likely for the one-mile race include Go Google Yourself, Divine Queen, and My Mertie. Entries are to be drawn Thursday.

The Groupie Doll was a longtime Grade 3 that is now ungraded for the first time since Evangelical won the 1990 running for Bert and Diana Firestone and trainer Bill Mott. It will be accompanied on the Sunday card by another one-mile race on the main track, the $100,000 Ellis Park Derby for 3-year-olds.

New turf records set

An exceedingly firm turf produced two course records and three near-misses when five Kentucky Downs Preview stakes were run last Sunday at Ellis.

Totally Boss set a record of 1:00.26 for 5 1/2 furlongs and figures as a major contender for the first-ever Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In event at Kentucky Downs, the Sept. 7 Turf Sprint. The 4-year-old gelding earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure, highest of the day.

The other record of 1:59.13 at the infrequently run distance of 1 1/4 miles was set by the Cox-trained Factor This, who narrowly held off Botswana and My Boy Jack in the preview for the $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup, also set for Sept. 7.

Twilight post at Ellis

The first of two twilight cards this summer at Ellis is set for Friday when a nine-race card gets under way at 2:50 p.m. Central, two hours later than normal. A second twilight card will be run Aug. 23.

A twilight card was supposed to be run July 19, but it was canceled because of extreme heat, along with the July 20 program. An eight-race makeup card was run July 29, but a second makeup will not be held, said Ellis racing secretary Dan Bork. Instead, the track will add a race or two to some cards through the end of the meet, Sept. 2, he said.