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Cox ‘A’ Team, Essential Quality Work Towards ‘Future Stars Friday’

A trio of Brad Cox-trained juveniles headed towards the ‘Future Stars Friday’ Breeders’ Cup program at Keeneland Nov. 6, got in their final major moves at soggy Churchill Downs Friday morning.

The first of the threesome at 9 a.m. was Godolphin’s ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Essential Quality (Tapit), who figures the second choice in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on the strength of his 3 1/4-length victory in the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 3. The hombred son of Grade III-placed Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality) worked five furlongs outside of his MGSW stablemate Mr. Misunderstood (Archarcharch) in 1:01, with early fractions of :12 flat and :24 1/5, according to track clocker John Nichols.

“Essential Quality is growing up well. He’s continuing to learn and I’m very pleased with how he’s progressing,” said Cox, who has won three Breeders ‘Cup races in the last two years. “He has a ton of raw talent which he’s shown in both of his starts. We added blinkers to him over the summer to help him focus a little bit more and they’ve really helped. We have experience around two turns and we have experience at Keeneland, which is always helpful. It’s 1 1/16 miles, so it’s a short stretch. You need to be in position when you turn for home.”

Next to hit the track was Abarta (Into Mischief), who completed the exacta for his sire behind ‘Rising Star’ Mutasaabeq in the GII Bourbon S. at Keeneland Oct. 4. Prepping for the Juvenile Turf, the $200,000 Keeneland September graduate breezed a half-mile in :47.60 outside of SW & GSP Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in splits of :11.60, :23.80 and :35 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.40.

“Abarta had a really nice late kick in the Bourbon to run second,” Cox said. “He didn’t have the best of trips but really showed some adversity that afternoon. I think it’s good he has already run well over that course.”

Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) earned her ‘Rising Star‘ at first asking at Churchill Sept. 1 and validated that effort with another front-running success in the GII JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. in Lexington Oct. 7. Purchased for 280,000gns out of last year’s Tattersalls October sale, the bay drilled a half in :48.60 (:24.40, :36.80), starting her work two lengths behind the unraced Palm Cottage (American Pharoah).

“Aunt Pearl acted like she could really run at the start,” Cox commented. “The good ones kind of do that–they’ll let you know there is a lot of talent there. Given the pedigree, we were optimistic she’d be able to carry her speed around two turns. We thought about taking her to Saratoga over the summer, but when Churchill’s condition book came out I thought it might be better to keep her at home. It’s turned out really well so far.”

Other Breeders’ Cup-bound workers at Churchill included:

Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo, Juvenile fillies), 4f in :48.20
Sittin On Go (Brody’s Cause, Juvenile), 4f in :47.40
Smiley Sobotka (Brody’s Cause, Juvenile), 4f in :47.60
Spanish Loveaffair (Karakontie {Jpn}), Juvenile Fillies Turf, 4f in :48.60

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‘It’s Hard To Put Into Words’: Cox Grateful For Career-Boosting Champion Monomoy Girl

According to trainer Brad Cox, champion Monomoy Girl's is better this year than she was two years ago. The 2018 Eclipse Award winner returned from multiple setbacks and nearly 18 months away from the races to win this season's Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs, and she's back in next Saturday's G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff hoping for a repeat of her victory in the 2018 edition.

The 5-year-old daughter of Tapizar gave Cox his first Grade 1 win in the Ashland in April of 2018. Since then, even without Monomoy Girl in his barn for the entire 2019 season, Cox's career has skyrocketed; he has now won 15 Grade 1 races as a trainer.

“It's hard to put into words what she means to me,” Cox said on Wednesday's Breeders' Cup teleconference. “Monomoy Girl put us in a position to have an opportunity to have eight, maybe nine horses in the Breeders' Cup this year. Horses like her definitely kickstart your career and get you to a different level.”

Cox trains the potential favorites in both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Essential Quality and Aunt Pearl.

Essential Quality, a 2-year-old son of Tapit owned by Godolphin, won the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 3.

“I think the sky's the limit with this horse,” Cox said. “He's had a race over the Keeneland track, he trained there a good bit of the summer, and he's had two nice works since his last race… I'm hoping he gets a good trip and he'll be in the mix.”

Aunt Pearl, a 2-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega, set a track record in the G2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland last out.

“She's a very fast filly who's able to carry her speed around two turns,” said Cox. “She had a really, really nice work last Friday at Churchill.”

In the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Cox may be represented by both Owendale and Knicks Go.

A Grade 1 winner at two, the now-4-year-old Knicks Go was transferred to Cox's stable over the winter. He's won a pair of allowance races this season, first at Oaklawn in February and last out at Keeneland, setting a track record on Oct. 4.

“We're 100 percent committed with Knicks Go,” Cox said. “He had a setback and minor surgery after the race in February, and there was talk of retiring him… When he came back he trained extremely well just like last winter, and he had his three-other-than condition. We took advantage of that at Keeneland, but we didn't expect him to break the track record. Obviously he loves Keeneland. Before that race, it never crossed my mind to run him in the Breeders' Cup. But after that performance… he has early speed and with the short stretch, I think he'll be a factor.”

The trainer isn't sure whether Owendale will start in the Breeders' Cup. The 4-year-old son of Into Mischief was most recently second in the G3 Pimlico Special, and may alternatively target the G1 Clark at the end of the Churchill Downs November meet.

“Owendale worked well with Monomoy Girl last week, and I feel like he's doing well,” Cox said. “If we don't land in the Dirt Mile, we'll go in the Clark.”

Cox's other Breeders' Cup entrants are: Abarta (Juvenile Turf), Beau Recall (Mile), Factor This (Mile), and Arklow (Turf).

In terms of Monomoy Girl, the mare has been entered in the Nov. 8 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Cox left the door open, however, when asked if she might return to race again in 2021.

“A lot of Monomoy Girl's future depends on her performance on Breeders' Cup day,” Cox said. “It was a long road, we had a couple of setbacks in '19, and took a lot from our staff and for everybody involved with her to get her back to compete and to win a Grade 1. We feel like she's better this year than she was in '18.”

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Mutasaabeq Leads 1-2 Finish For Leading Sire Into Mischief In Bourbon Stakes

Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, last at the top of the stretch in the field of 11, rocketed to the front at the sixteenth pole and cruised to a 21/4-length victory in the 30th running of the $200,000 Bourbon (G2) for 2-year-olds at Keeneland and earn a spot in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) to be run at a mile at the Lexington, Ky., track on Nov. 6.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Luis Saez, Mutasaabeq covered the 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:43.13 in his grass debut. It is the fifth victory in the Bourbon for Pletcher, whose other winners are Twilight Meteor (2006), Bittel Road (2008), Interactif (2009) and Current (2018).

Into the Sunrise emerged with the lead in the run to the first turn and set fractions of :22.62, :47.09 and 1:12.24 while Saez waited at the back.

Mutasaabeq shifted to the outside on the far turn, entered the stretch eight wide and quickly picked off rivals before overtaking Into the Sunrise inside the sixteenth pole and drawing off.

“We broke a little slow,” said Saez. “Last time he did the same thing, but I knew I had a lot of horse. The distance was great for him. He was working so good on the turf. We knew what we had. When we came to the half-mile I was trying to (decide) where we were going to go – inside or out – but inside we had so many horses. I felt like I had the horse to go out and let him roll. When he came to the straight, he just took off. He did it easy.”

“He didn't break well and that has historically been him,” said Pletcher. “He's a horse that has speed and he has a tremendous turn of foot as you saw today, but he's notoriously not been great the first jump or two away from the gate. So I wasn't surprised when he didn't get away well and then he kind of got shuffled back and then a horse kind of came over and he had to steady a bit.

“The first 100 yards didn't go very well, but he was able to save a little bit of ground around the first turn and it looked like Luis (Saez) was biding his time and trying to figure out whether he should find a seam to go through or ultimately he just decided to circle the field and kind of sling-shotted them. He delivered an explosive turn of foot. Great to see and great for the Shadwell team.

“His maiden win was very impressive and his gate work prior to his maiden win was as good as any 2-year-old we've had at Saratoga ever. We felt that the Hopeful (G1), they kind of ran away from him and he couldn't really close the way we hoped he would. Kind of looking into his pedigree, the Into Mischief's run on anything.”

A Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale graduate, Mutasaabeq is a Kentucky-bred son of Into Mischief out of the Scat Daddy mare Downside Scenario. The victory was worth $120,000 and increased his earnings to $189,600 with a record of 3-2-0-1.

Sent off as the favorite, Mutasaabeq paid $6, $3.80 and $3.60. Abarta, also by the Spendthrift Farm stallion Into Mischief, rallied for second under Umberto Rispoli to return $10.60 and $7.60. Nathan Detroit finished another three-quarters of a length back in third under Julien Leparoux and paid $7.60 to show.

It was another head back to Into the Sunrise, who was followed in order by Arrest Me Red, Private Island, Spyglass, Barrister Tom, Blame the Booze, Indy Tourist and Really Slow.

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