The Paulick Report stopped by reigning champion trainer Brad Cox's barn just minutes after Bob Baffert's press conference announcing the positive test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, wondering if Cox would reconsider his stance on starting Derby runner-up Mandaloun in the Preakness Stakes. Cox laughed, and said he'd have to double check with owner Juddmonte Farm, but would most likely stick to his plans to target big summer races with the talented, quirky son of Into Mischief.
On Thursday, Cox told the Daily Racing Form that he plans to point Mandaloun to the G1 Haskell Invitational on July 17 at Monmouth Park, skipping the rest of the Triple Crown series altogether.
Mandaloun worked for the first time since his half-length defeat in the Kentucky Derby on May 15 at Churchill Downs, covering a half-mile in 48 2/5 seconds. It's possible the colt could run before the Haskell, Cox said, but he'll wait to develop a plan until Mandaloun shows he's ready for the next step.
Should Medina Spirit be disqualified from first in the Kentucky Derby, it would mark Cox's first victory in the Run for the Roses, as well as the first Derby win for a Louisville-born trainer.
“Everybody is asking me, 'What's it feel like?' ” Cox told DRF. “Well, I don't know. It's a feeling I've never had before. It'd be cool . . . I guess? It'd be something you'd mark off your bucket list, but something you'd want to do again, maybe in a different way. It's certainly not the way you'd expect to win a race, especially as something as special as the Kentucky Derby.”
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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