Two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox set a single-season Oaklawn record for stakes victories by a trainer when heavily favored Merlazza captured Saturday's inaugural $150,000 Valley of the Vapors for 3-year-old fillies going one mile at the Hot Springs, Ark. track.
The Valley of the Vapors represented the ninth stakes victory at the meeting for Cox, 43, who was honored with an Eclipse Award in 2020 and 2021 as the country's outstanding trainer.
Cox has 21 victories at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting, with 43 percent coming in stakes company. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen won eight stakes races at the 2019 and 2021 Oaklawn meetings.
In addition to the Valley of the Vapors, Cox won the $250,000 Smarty Jones Jan. 1 with Victory Formation, $200,000 Martha Washington Jan. 28 with Wet Paint, $250,000 Bayakoa (G3) Feb. 4 with A Mo Reay, $300,000 Honeybee (G3) Feb. 25 with Wet Paint, $150,000 Purple Martin March 25 with Key of Life, $200,000 Hot Springs April 1 with Eyeing Clover, $600,000 Fantasy (G3) April 1 with Wet Paint and the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 1 with Angel of Empire.
“Very good meeting,” Jorgito Abrego, who oversees Cox's Oaklawn division, said Sunday morning. “Obviously, thanks to the owners to give the opportunity to Brad. Brad's always picking the right spots for the horses. It's amazing. You look at nine stakes as part of our 21 wins – 40 percent stakes is very good. Win the Arkansas Derby, the Fantasy, those type of races, makes you keep going.”
Merlazza was making her stakes debut after winning two consecutive starts at Fair Grounds. She finished second, beaten a head, in her Jan. 21 career debut at the New Orleans track. Ridden Saturday by Joel Rosario, Merlazza ($3.20) overcame an imperfect pace setup to edge long shot Pink Ace by a length. The final time over a fast track was 1:40.75.
“After the slow fractions, I was kind of scared,” Abrego said. “They went a (half-mile) in :50 and I was thinking, 'This filly may not get there.' But good horses always find the right spot for a win. With a good horse, you don't really find an excuse. That filly ran really, really good and came back good. Now, we'll have to look for a graded stake.”
Merlazza, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who races for breeder/owner Don Alberto Stable, has a 3-1-0 record from four lifetime starts and earnings of $191,650.
Cox narrowly missed a 10th stakes victory at the meeting, finishing second and third with Tapit Shoes and Victory Formation, respectively, in Saturday's inaugural $200,000 Bath House Row for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. Tapit Shoes, who was making his stakes debut, was beaten a head by Red Route One, with Victory Formation a half-length farther back.
Cox has 286 career victories at Oaklawn, the first coming in 2009. All 37 Oaklawn stakes victories, including seven in 2021 (his previous single-season high), have come since 2015, coinciding with his rise to national prominence. Cox is personally based at Fair Grounds in the winter, with Abrego running his Oaklawn operation.
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