Tag: Brad Cox

Matareya captured June's Grade 1 Acorn Stakes by 6 1/4 lengths. The 3-year-old filly comes into Saturday's Grade 1 Test Stakes unbeaten in four 2022 starts. (Image: AC Photo/NYRA.com)

Passing This Test Means Beating the Formidable Matareya

The aptly named Grade 1 Test Stakes applies to six of the seven 3-year-old fillies in the field. And it’s a test that — according to Matareya — none of the six are likely to pass. That’s due to Matareya, the leader in this class. She brings her 4-for-4 record […]

Epicenter showed a new closer dimension winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Saturday. The victory puts the colt atop the 3-year-old class -- for now. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo)

Epicenter Answers the Question: Who’s The Best 3-Year-Old Today?

The shifting, quaking earth under the 3-year-old division slid once again Saturday, when 6/5 favorite Epicenter put away Zandon, Tawny Port and Early Voting, winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga by 1 ½ lengths. Put aside for the moment that Epicenter passed the $2 million mark in career […]

Country Grammer fired a bullet in this July 24 workout at Del Mar. He's the 5/2 favorite for the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap in his first US race in 14 months. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

San Diego Handicap Punches Above It’s Weight as Pacific Classic Prep

The Grade 2 San Diego Handicap is considered the major prep for Del Mar’s flagship race: the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. But you can be forgiven if you mistake this nine-horse field for what lies ahead Labor Day weekend in the Pacific Classic. And that’s not only because defending Pacific […]

Cyberknife (inside) held off a surging Taiba at the wire to win the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes. He set a Monmouth Park record for 1 1/8 miles along the way. (Image: Monmouth Park)

Cyberknife Carves His Way To Haskell Title, Monmouth Park Record

Cyberknife not only left the heralded Haskell Stakes duel between Jack Christopher and Taiba in the dust, he left both horses behind – along with the Monmouth Park track record for 1 1/8 miles. Also left behind was Jack Christopher’s aura of invincibility, along with Chad Brown’s chances of sweeping […]

The much-traveled Caravel goes for her third victory in four races under Brad Cox's tutelage in Saturday's Grade 3 Caress Stakes at Saratoga. Last month, she won the Grade 3 Intercontinental at Belmont Park. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Caravel’s Winding Road Leads Her Back to Saratoga’s Caress Stakes

This time last year, Caravel was about to win the Grade 3 Caress Stakes for owner/trainer Elizabeth Merryman. Coming out of that victory, her third consecutive score, Caravel was about to go to Bobby Flay. The celebrity chef and racing aficionado bought a majority share of the filly before that […]

Rattle N Roll rolls back on one week rest to 5/2 favored status in Saturday's Grade 3 Indiana Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

The Indiana Derby Brings You Sophomores Across the Class Spectrum

As you’re trying to fit the fluid and shifting 3-year-old colt/gelding class into their places, consider Saturday’s Grade 3 Indiana Derby as one of those bridge events between the Triple Crown season and the higher-profile sophomore races later this summer. Nobody’s confusing the Indiana Derby, or its junior-varsity derby counterparts […]

Interstatedaydream won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan comfortably. She is the favorite for the Indiana Oaks, Leg 4 of this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club)

Sophomores Take Center Stage in All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5

Belmont Park’s two Grade 1s share the stage with the biggest day on Horseshoe Indianapolis’ schedule to create this week’s all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5. The New York Racing Association starts this week’s Cross Country Pick 5 at home with the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational. The 10-filly field of […]

Florent Geroux will bring his tack west to Del Mar for this summer's meet on the California coast. (Image: Coady Photography)

Florent Geroux Going West, Riding at Del Mar this Summer

Bucking the recent trend of California riders heading East, Florent Geroux will ride at Del Mar this summer, according to his agent Doug Bredar. Bredar made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday morning. Geroux followed along, retweeting Del Mar’s announcement that announced the jockey is “Beach bound.” Geroux spent the spring […]

Grade 2 Alysheba winner Olympiad will take his share of wagers in Saturday's Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. He is the 5/2 second choice on the morning line. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rivalries Begin, Strong Contenders Abound in Stephen Foster

The Grade 2 Stephen Foster is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series race. But its importance goes beyond merely sending its winner to the flagship $6 million Classic. This year’s Stephen Foster brings us what we need in racing: a good rivalry. In this case, that’s 2/1 […]

UAE Oaks and 1,000 Guineas winner Shahama seeks to return to the winner's circle after a sixth in the Kentucky Oaks. She is one of the fillies to watch in the Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Cross Country Pick 5 Takes an All-Stakes Trip to Four Tracks

This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 truly makes the East Coast and Midwest rounds, hitting four tracks with an all-stakes sequence culminating in a wide-open Ohio Derby. Along with that second of two races from JACK Thistledown, this week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Belmont Park, Monmouth Park […]

Tawny Port, seen here working out two days before he finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby is the 3/1 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 3 Ohio Derby at JACK Thistledown. (Image: Coady Photography)

Ohio Derby Provides Derby Disappointments Redemption Opportunity

The Grade 3 Ohio Derby takes its turn in the racing spotlight at an ideal time, fitting in after the Triple Crown and before the lucrative Del Mar and Saratoga meets begin in mid-July. And it does so carrying three Kentucky Derby veterans making their first starts since that May […]

Dowagiac Chief broke his maiden in this Kentucky Downs maiden special weight. He is one of the favorites for the marquee Mystic Lake Derby at Canterbury Park's Northern Stars Turf Festival Wednesday. (Image: Coady Photgraphy)

Canterbury Park Gets Mystic with Northern Stars Turf Festival

The center of the horse racing universe will migrate north to Minnesota’s Canterbury Park on Wednesday, where the annual Mystic Lake Northern Stars Turf Festival offers five stakes and a rich smorgasbord of betting options. Those options include an all-turf stakes Pick 5 that offers an industry-low 10% takeout. That […]

(Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Breaking Down the 2022 Kentucky Derby: Chaos Theory Reigns

Welcome to Kentucky Derby 148, a.k.a. The Chaos Derby. And we’re not talking about the usual infield escapades that happen as the Derby returns to it’s pre-pandemic crowds north of 150,000. Unpredictability? Depth? A Derby where surprises almost wouldn’t be surprising? This edition of America’s most popular race has it […]

Champion 3-Year-Old Malathaat and John Velazquez made her 2022 debut with this resounding victory in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland. That was one of the highlights of a record Spring Meet at Keeneland. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Keeneland Brings Home Record Spring Meet Handle Across the Board

Keeneland enjoyed its third consecutive year of record Spring Meet handle, bringing in an all-sources handle of $219,284,979 for its just-concluded Spring Meet. That handle was the largest total in the Kentucky track’s history. The more than $219 million from the 15-day meet that ended Friday represented a 33.16% increase […]

Coming out of her victory in the Giant's Causeway Stakes earlier this month, Wesley Ward's Campanelle is one of the top American horses set to invade Royal Ascot in June. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Ward’s Decorated Duo Lead an American Invasion of Royal Ascot

Wesley Ward’s decorated duo of Golden Pal and Campanelle headline a 16-horse American contingent of nominees for this year’s Royal Ascot Group 1 races. A customary presence at the mid-June meet, Ward is one of four American trainers nominating horses to one of the eight Group 1 races. Graham Motion, […]

Rated R Superstar, seen here winning the Grade 3 Essex Stakes, is one of three millionaires in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap field. He is 5/1 on the morning line in a deep, eight-horse field. (Image: Coady Photography)

This Deep Oaklawn Handicap Provides A Handicapper’s Puzzle

The numbers tell you how competitive Saturday’s Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap is from a wagering standpoint. Because this is a race where just about everyone can win. How competitive is the anchor stakes race on Oaklawn Park’s 12-race card? Six of the eight older horses in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn […]

Campanelle works out before her 4-year-old debut awaits in Saturday's Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland. That is the opening leg to this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Salty Kentucky Derby Prep, Ascot Winner Head Cross Country Pick 5

The last stop on the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail and a Royal Ascot winner making her season debut headline this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 wager. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 features races from Keeneland and Aqueduct. Two of the five races are stakes events. That […]

Cyberknife captured the Arkansas Derby Saturday, vaulting him into the Kentucky Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Derby Prep Stretch Run: Who’s Rising, Who’s Falling

Saturday’s penultimate wave of Kentucky Derby prep races brought four horses into the Derby field and taught us plenty about several others who either evolved into Derby contenders or devolved into Derby pretenders. There was White Abarrio, winning the Florida Derby in stellar fashion to punch his ticket to the […]

Secret Oath is bidding to be the first filly in 38 years to win the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. The D. Wayne Lukas charge is the 5/2 morning line favorite. (Image: Coady Photgraphy)

Favorite Secret Oath is No Secret Coming in to Arkansas Derby

In 1984, D. Wayne Lukas decided on a whim to bring back his filly Althea for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. That this was unconventional – even for those times of running horses far more often than happens now – can’t be understated. That’s because Althea ran the week before, […]