Sun Path looks to follow in family's footsteps in Fair Grounds allowance
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Bonny South won the 2020 Fair Grounds Oaks, and her little sister Sun Path can take a step toward similar races in 2021 when she starts in the eighth race Friday at Fair Grounds.
Sun Path looks like an odds-on favorite in this nonwinners-of-two lifetime allowance for 2-year-old fillies over one mile and 70 yards. Her start is part of a strong end to the Friday program. Race 7 is an appealing two-turn maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies, race 9 a competitive first-level turf-route allowance, and race 10 a second-level, dirt-route allowance including several good horses.
As for Sun Path, she’s a full sister to Bonny South, both horses Juddmonte Farms homebreds by Munnings out of Touch the Star, by Tapit. Sun Path had an eventful trip finishing second going six furlongs at Keeneland in her career debut before graduating in style Nov. 8 at Churchill, winning a one-turn mile maiden race by three lengths. Sun Path made a flashy run from the back of the field to gain position around the turn before finishing with aplomb as jockey Florent Geroux never cocked his whip.
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“She kind of made two runs there – she was impressive,” said trainer Brad Cox. “Bonny South accomplished a lot as a 3-year-old, but I feel like at this stage of their careers, Sun Path is a little ahead of where she was.”
As well as Sun Path performed in the one-turn-mile, galloping out with plenty of energy, Cox believes two-turn racing will prove to be her best game. She’s drawn on the rail with Geroux and simply looks like a faster horse than recent maiden winners Montpelier, Gladys, Social Dilemma, and Rock Star Parking. Gladys, who has been based in Florida with trainer Kelsey Danner, is a full sister to the great Rachel Alexandra.
Cox also figures prominently in the nightcap, a second-level, dirt-route allowance, where he starts likely pacesetter Cowboy Diplomacy as well as the talented Godolphin homebred Spa City. Cowboy Diplomacy, a brother to champion Monomoy Girl, stretched out from sprints to win his most recent start, a first-level allowance at Indiana Grand, and should show the way in Friday’s start. He might be hard-pressed, however, to contain his stablemate Spa City, who won his first start for Cox, a first-level allowance race over 1 3/16 miles at Keeneland in October.
“He’s a big, strong horse that is really training well,” Cox said. “We were pointing for this race earlier in the month and it didn’t go, so he’s been ready to run for a few weeks now. He had a little bit of a weird comeback race for us; that 1 3/16 miles was all they offered. He raced wide around both turns and galloped out real well. He’s set to improve off that effort.”
This race also includes Enforceable, who won the Lecomte Stakes last January at Fair Grounds and was second in a division of the Risen Star. Enforceable, who has no speed, finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby before failing to make much impact in the Bryan Station Stakes over turf on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.