Two Cox juveniles appear on road to stakes races

There were no stakes wins for the Brad Cox stable on Saturday at Fair Grounds, but 2-year-olds from the Cox barn looked like future stakes horses on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, the 2-year-old filly Sun Path aced her two-turn test with a 12 3/4-lengths first-level allowance win. Sun Path ran one mile, 70 yards in 1:42.95 and got an 84 Beyer Speed Figure, up from the 82 she earned in a one-turn-mile maiden win at Churchill last month. Sun Path, a Juddmonte Farms homebred, is a full sister to 2020 Fair Grounds Oaks winner Bonny South, and after running well enough but losing her sprint debut at Keeneland this fall, she appears to have found her calling in route races.

“Overall, it was a big performance and we saw what we wanted to see around two turns,” Cox said Sunday. Jockey Florent Geroux “didn’t have to ask her too much down the lane and she came out of it in great shape.”

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Cox mentioned three possible races for Sun Path – the Silverbulletday on Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds, or a pair of spots in February: the Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds and the Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park. Cox is pointing Golden Rod Stakes winner Travel Column to the Rachel Alexandra. He said discussions with Juddmonte North American racing manager Garrett O’Rourke and owner-breeder Khaled Abdullah would determine Sun Path’s early 2021 course.

“We want to give her the right amount of time between races if we’re thinking about the Kentucky Oaks,” Cox said.

On Saturday, the Juddmonte homebred 2-year-old colt Prate exploded onto the scene with a gigantic debut sprint victory. Prate, racing from fourth position under Geroux, bulled between horses past the quarter pole and stormed to a 4 1/4-length win, going six furlongs in 1:09.81. That was a meaningfully faster time than a pair of 2-year-old stakes earlier on the card. Prate got a 90 Beyer.

Prate is by Into Mischief out of Vaunting, by Exchange Rate, and the powerfully built gray colt won’t necessarily be treated as a two-turn candidate in the short term, Cox said.

“I think there’s a question mark if he’d stretch out. Just talking to Garrett O’Rourke, I think we’ll leave him around one turn for the time being. I think he and Prince Khaled are content with him being a good horse around one turn, if that’s what it turns out he is,” Cox said. “He’s a stout, strong horse, and he looked great [Sunday] morning. We’ll be in no rush with him. I wouldn’t be opposed to running him back in a first-level allowance here at Fair Grounds.”

Essential Quality, Monomoy Girl work out

Essential Quality and Monomoy Girl, both of whom are likely to earn Eclipse awards for their 2020 racing seasons, had their first work Sunday morning since shipping from Kentucky to Louisiana. Essential Quality went a measured three furlongs officially timed in 36.20 seconds, while Monomoy Girl’s easy three-furlong breeze didn’t receive an official clocking.

“No company, nice and easy, he handled it well and I’m very happy with what he did,” Cox said of Essential Quality.

Essential Quality won the Breeders’ Futurity and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland this fall. No plans have yet been set for his 2021 debut. Monomoy Girl, who won her second Breeders’ Cup Distaff, is aimed toward the Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn.