Zozos ends layoff with solid win, points to stakes next

Zozos aced his long-layoff comeback start on Dec. 17 at Fair Grounds by comfortably winning a second-level allowance race by 2 3/4 lengths. Now, it will be back to stakes competition for Zozos, but when and where has yet to be determined, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday morning.

Second in the 2022 Louisiana Derby behind Epicenter, Zozos raced Saturday for the first time since a 14th-place Kentucky Derby finish, and he raced well. Settling sweetly several lengths off a moderate pace, Zozos came into contention past the three-furlong marker, was put to minor upper-stretch pressure by jockey Corey Lanerie and, after easily reeling-in pacesetting Treasury, Zozos was hand-ridden to the wire. He clocked 1:44.31 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast track and earned a solid 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I liked the way he was able to relax and finish up,” said Cox, who trains Zozos for the colt’s breeders, Barry and Joni Butzow. “Physically, he couldn’t look any better. Hopefully he moves forward. He’s a horse we’re hoping to campaign in graded stakes during 2023.”

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The next Fair Grounds dirt-route stakes that Zozos fits in is the $150,000 Louisiana on Jan. 21.

Earlier Saturday in New Orleans, Cox sent a more-accomplished 3-year-old, Cyberknife, out to work a half-mile in 50.20, his second drill since arriving last month at Fair Grounds. Narrowly beaten in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Cyberknife makes his career finale in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

“We’ll start getting a little more serious with him next week,” Cox said. “Physically, he looks amazing, and mentally he’s so much better than he was.”

Cox trains a host of talented 2-year-old colts, among them Giant Mischief, who on Saturday night finished second, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. Giant Mischief lost the race at the start, breaking terribly and spotting his rivals a considerable advantage before making a powerful, looping move around the far turn. Winner of a maiden race at Horseshoe Indianapolis and a first-level allowance at Keeneland, Giant Mischief was racing around two turns for the first time at Remington. Cox said after a brief stop at Oaklawn Park, the Into Mischief colt will join his Fair Grounds string and be pointed to a Kentucky Derby prep race early in 2023.

***Dec. 26 stakes

Cox also has the likely favorite for a pair of 2-year-old stakes races on Dec. 26 that were drawn Saturday along with the rest of the first semi-major program of the 2022-23 meet. Cox runs Corona Bolt in the Sugar Bowl and Dazzling Blue in the filly-restricted Letellier Memorial, 2-year-old races carded for six furlongs.

The Untapable, for 2-year-old fillies, and the Gun Runner, an open 2-year-old race, will be contested around two turns on dirt. Hayes Strike, third in the Kentucky Jockey Club, Churchill maiden winner Determinedly, and turf-to-dirt Andthewinneris head the Gun Runner field, which includes the Cox-trained Jace’s Road. The Untapable drew 10 entrants, with Pocahontas third-place finisher Pretty Mischievous and Churchill maiden winner Vahva the likely favorites.

Also carded are the first two turf races of the Fair Grounds meet, the Buddy Diliberto Memorial and the Blushing K D, both limited to eight runners with the temporary rail placed 34 feet outside the “zero” position. Fair Grounds’ grass course was damaged this fall by salt water contamination in a well that was used for irrigation; the inside lanes remain unsuitable for racing.

The other stakes races on a card with an early noon Central first post include the Spanky Broussard Memorial, a two-turn dirt race for older fillies and mares; the Richie Scherer Memorial, for older dirt sprinters; and the Tenacious Stakes, an older-horse dirt route that lured a surprisingly deep group of 13 entrants.

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