brad cox | Horse Racing Free Tips

Knicks Go Retains Top Spot In NTRA Thoroughbred Poll

Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go remained at No. 1 in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for the second consecutive week, with the first seven places remaining largely unchanged.

Trained by Brad Cox, Knicks Go, who scored a commanding 4 ½-length victory in Saratoga's Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 7, received 27 first-place votes and 338 points. The Whitney was the third win of the year for Knicks Go, who also captured the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska, trained by Fausto Gutierrez, is in second place with six first-place votes and 303 points. Letruska has won four of five starts this year, including the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park.

Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, who won the July 31 Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, remained in third place. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5, and finished No. 1 in the final NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll, has one first-place vote and 253 points.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs and second in the Whitney, has moved up one spot to fourth place. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield has 225 points.

Klaravich Stables' 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending, whose valiant effort to catch Two Emmys in the Grade 1 Mr. D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Saturday fell just a neck short at the wire, dropped from fourth to fifth place with 150 points. Trained by Chad Brown, Domestic Spending had previously finished in a dead heat for first in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, and won the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State, who finished third in the Whitney after four consecutive wins, remained in sixth place with 139 points.

Michael Lund Petersen's 4-year-old Gamine, the 2020 champion female sprinter, retained seventh place with 90 points. Gamine, trained by Bob Baffert, is unbeaten in three starts this year, including a victory in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff presented by Kendall Jackson Winery at Churchill Downs.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss's Hot Rod Charlie rose from ninth to eighth place with 60 points. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes but was disqualified and placed seventh due to interference.

New to the Top 10 is Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing and Big Aut Farms' 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil. Also trained by Cox, Shedaresthedevil improved from 11th to ninth place this week. Shedaresthedevil has won three of four starts this year, including the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1.

Kirk and Judy Robison's 3-year-old Jackie's Warrior also joined the Top 10 this week. Trained by Asmussen, Jackie's Warrior, who won the Grade 2, 6 ½-furlong Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga by 7 ¼ lengths on Aug. 1, jumped from 12th into a 10th-place tie with Godophin's Mystic Guide, the Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner, who is out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. Jackie's Warrior and Mystic Guide have 41 points apiece.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through Nov. 6.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Polls can be found on the NTRA website at: https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-august-16-2021/

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Cox Prepares Colonel Bowman For Ellis Park Derby, Three Fillies For Groupie Doll

Meet-leading trainer Brad Cox has a barn well-stocked with 3-year-old stakes-winners, and Colonel Bowman will try to become the latest in Sunday's $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby.

Colonel Bowman earned a shot at stakes company by taking an Ellis Park allowance race.

“He's trained very well up to the race,” said Jorge Abrego, who oversees Cox's Ellis Park operation. “It was his first time going two turns last time; he handled it very well. After the race, he came back good, breezed a couple of times really good. I'm very excited because it's a mile and an eighth. I think he'll run well. I like the horse. I'm not really scared of the competition. I think he has a big shot to win the race.”

Abrego, who was around Colonel Bowman all spring at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., says he's noticed a change.

“He gallops a mile and a half every day,” he said. “Second round, he gets stronger and stronger. I think the two turns for him is very good.”

Cox entered three horses in the $125,000 RUNHAPPY Groupie Doll for fillies and mares: stakes-winning and graded stakes-place Dreamalildreamofu, sprint specialist Lady Rocket, and Indiana Grand stakes-winner Matera, who needs a scratch to run. When it was suggested that he was going to be busy in the paddock saddling horses, Abrego quipped, “I hope it keeps me busy in the winner's circle!”

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Plainsman Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite In Remington’s Opening Night $175,000 Governor’s Cup

The country's second-ranked trainer by horses' earnings this year, Brad Cox, entered Plainsman Friday morning in the $175,000 Governor's Cup. The first stakes race of the season headlines the opening night program for Remington Park racing on Aug. 20.

Remington Park morning-line maker Jerry Shottenkirk has established Plainsman the 2-1 favorite for a competitive field of 10 horses top to bottom. The Governor's Cup will go as the eighth race on a nine-race card that begins at 7:07 p.m. next Friday. Post time for the 1-1/8th mile race on the dirt has been set for approximately 10:23 p.m.-central.

Plainsman, a 6-year-old by Flatter, out of the Street Sense mare S S Pinafore, is owned by Shortleaf Stable of Hot Springs, Ark. and he will be ridden by Francisco Arrieta. Arrieta took over the duties on Plainsman three races back at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, and has not lost on him since he was given a leg up by Cox. Plainsman won an allowance race on April 15 at Oaklawn, followed by victories in the $50,000 Jim Rasmussen, an overnight stakes at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa on June 4, and the $85,000 Michael G. Schaefer Stakes at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville, Ind. Arrieta has most recently been riding at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. Plainsman's record is 23 starts, seven wins, five seconds and three starts for $515,407 in earnings.

Despite the win streak, Plainsman has been beaten by a couple of horses in this race, including defending champion Hunka Burning Love in the 2020 Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial at Remington Park. Hunka Burning Love won the Governor's Cup last year by 6-1/2 lengths and has been made an 8-1 slight outsider to repeat because of his recent dull form. Trainer Karl Broberg sends out this 7-year-old gelded son of Into Mischief, out of the Thunder Gulch mare Touch of Fire, for owner End Zone Athletics of Mansfield, Tex. He will be ridden by Remington Park newcomer Reylu Gutierrez.

Hunka Burning Love has never lost in three tries around two turns at Remington Park. Three-time defending champion jockey David Cabrera has ridden him in two of those wins and Ramon Vazquez was aboard for the other. Both of them have other mounts in the Governor's Cup. Hunka Burning Love has had a third and two fourth-place finishes in his last three starts. He was fourth in the $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex. All of three of his recent losses came over a sloppy or muddy track, however.

Vazquez will ride Rated R Superstar, who was supplemented for $5,260 at time of entry by Remington Park's all-time leading owner Danny Caldwell of Poteau, Okla. (371 wins). The 8-year-old gelded son of Kodiak Kowboy, out of the Gold Case mare Wicked Wish, was made the 9-2 second choice in the morning-line in this spot. He is one of two millionaires in the field. Rated R Superstar, trained by Federico Villafranco, has earned $1,068,014 in 54 starts with eight wins. He finished a neck back of Plainsman in the Rasmussen, but hasn't won in stakes company the past two years.

The other millionaire is Tenfold, the top money-earner in the field with $1,179,745 in 25 starts. The 6-year-old by Curlin, out of the Tapit mare Temptress, appears to be the class of the field, having run against graded stakes horses in nine of his last 13 races.

Asmussen, the new all-time leading trainer by wins in racing, also has Tapit Wise representing the barn at 10-1 morning-line odds.

Another horse entered on a win streak is Guided Missile, going for his third straight win. At 8-1 odds, trainer Boyd Caster sends out this 4-year-old colt by Tapit from the Tiznow mare Pussyfoot. He has won two in a row in allowance events at Prairie Meadows.

This will be the 30th Governor's Cup at Remington Park, contested at 1-1/8 miles since 2011. The race was originally called the Remington Cup from 1988-1994. Asmussen has won the race six times (2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018) while Broberg has one win, last year with Hunka Burning Love.

Jockey David Cabrera is the lone rider in the field to have a score in the Governor's Cup, winning aboard Hunka Burning Love last year.

Here's a look at the field from inside to outside with jockey, trainer and morning line odds:

Tenfold, Stewart Elliott, Steve Asmussen, 5-1
Guided Missile, Curtis Kimes, Boyd Caster, 8-1
Trident Hit, David Cabrera, Ron Moquett, 6-1
Box Seat, Iram Diego, Boyd Caster, 20-1
Rated R Superstar, Ramon Vazquez, Federico Villafranco, 9-2
Baozun, Weston Hamilton, Juan Gomez Jr., 30-1
Plainsman, Francisco Arrieta, Brad Cox, 2-1
Popularity, Richard Eramia, Joe Offolter, 15-1
Tapit Wise, Leandro Goncalves, Steve Asmussen, 10-1
Hunka Burning Love, Reylu Gutierrez, Karl Broberg, 8-1

Tracked by more than 167,000 fans on Facebook and 10,400 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $269 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park features live and simulcast horse racing, and the casino is always open! The 2021 Thoroughbred Season begins Aug. 20. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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Multiple Graded Stakes Winner Owendale Dies After Bout With Colic

Multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Owendale has died after a bout with colic, trainer Brad Cox told bloodhorse.com on Wednesday.

The 5-year-old son of Into Mischief earned $1,538,435 on the track, with a record of six wins, five seconds, and four thirds from 23 career starts. He most recently finished fourth in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 17.

Campaigned by Rupp Racing after commanding $200,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, Owendale earned Grade 1 placings when finishing third in the 2019 Preakness, second in the 2019 Clark, and third in the 2020 Clark. His graded stakes wins came in the G3 Lexington (2019), the G3 Ohio Derby (2019), and the G3 Oklahoma Derby (2019).

Bred by Stonestreet, Owendale is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Aspen Light, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Great Hunter.