brad cox | Horse Racing Free Tips

Arklow Tries to Fend Off Brown Trio in U.N.

Easily the most accomplished runner in the field with earnings of over $2.75 million–more than his nine opponents combined–7-year-old stalwart Arklow (Arch) will try to make amends for running fourth as a heavy favorite in last year's GI United Nations S. in Saturday's renewal of the 1 3/8-mile test on the Monmouth turf.

Picking up his first stakes win as a 3-year-old in the GII American Turf S. back in 2017, the bay has since added five more black-type scores, including his lone Grade I success thus far in the 2019 GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. at Belmont. Adding blinkers after disappointing in last year's U.N., he has gone three-for-four since, capturing the GIII Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup S., GII Hollywood Turf Cup S. and GIII Louisville S. last out May 15 at Churchill.

A trio of Chad Brown trainees figure to offer the heftiest challenges to the favorite, with the most dangerous of the three appearing to be the speedy Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}). Spurting out to a clear lead in the GII Fort Marcy S. May 1 at Belmont, he dug in gamely in the stretch to score a 1 1/2-length victory at 10-1. Again blitzing clear in the 1 1/4-mile GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. there June 5, he held well to be second behind stablemate and turf division leader Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}).

Master Piece (Chi) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a Group 2 winner in his native Chile, was fourth last fall when making his U.S. debut in the Joe Hirsch and got the winter off before returning with a well-graded allowance score Apr. 16 at Keeneland. He failed to make an impact, however, when sixth in the Manhattan last out.

Rounding out the Brown contingent is Peter Brant's Serve the King (GB) (Kingman {GB}), runner-up in last fall's GIII Monmouth S. and fourth in the same event off the bench June 5.

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Triple Crown Heavy Hitters Reconvene in Haskell

The runners-up in all three Triple Crown races—though one of them may be promoted to winner at a later date—will clash along with a very intriguing stretch-out sprinter Saturday at Monmouth in a quality renewal of the GI TVG.com Haskell S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Pegged as the 6-5 morning-line favorite is Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who ran the best race of the three Triple Crown returnees when finishing a hard-luck second to division leader Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GI Belmont S. June 5. Pushed through a scorching early pace of :22.78 and :46.49, the $110,000 Fasig-Tipton October bargain buy improbably fought on with tenacity until deep stretch, just being overtaken late for a 1 1/4-length defeat while finishing 11 1/4 lengths clear of GI Preakness S. hero Rombauer (Twirling Candy) in third. The two horses who fought him for the early lead finished sixth and eighth, beaten 22 and 81 lengths, respectively. Prior to that, Hot Rod Charlie had annexed the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby, run third in the GI Kentucky Derby and GIII Robert B. Lewis and second at 94-1 in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Mandaloun (Into Mischief) is likely to be declared the Derby winner after running a half-length second to Medina Spirit (Protonico), who later famously tested over the limit for betamethasone. That was a bounce-back effort for the 'TDN Rising Star' after he was a badly-beaten sixth as a 13-10 favorite in the Louisiana Derby. Earlier the winner of the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds, the Juddmonte homebred was last seen holding on by a neck in the local Pegasus S. June 13.

“What this would do for this colt moving forward would be huge,” said trainer Brad Cox of winning the Haskell. “It would give him an opportunity to stand at Juddmonte, which is the goal, and when you win that first Grade I, it takes the pressure off of what you do moving forward. This would be huge for the whole Juddmonte team. It would mean the world to me. I love this colt, he's been one we've thought a lot of since late summer/early fall, and when you watch him train and you think they're good and then they show up, it's very rewarding. For him to accomplish what he has to date is amazing, but there are definitely some more hurdles to jump and we think he's capable of doing it.”

Winless since capturing the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) was third to Mandaloun in the Risen Star and second to Hot Rod Charlie in the Louisiana Derby. Sixth with a wide trip in the Run for the Roses, the $525,000 Keeneland September buy held the place after pressing Medina Spirit through quick splits when last seen in the May 15 Preakness S.

The clear wild card in the race is immensely talented 'Rising Star' Following Sea (Runhappy), who will make his two-turn debut while breaking from the tricky rail draw. A runner-up, later demoted to third via disqualification debuting at 9-10 over six furlongs Mar. 6 at Santa Anita, the Spendthrift Farm earned his 'Rising Star' nod with a dominant graduation over the same trip Apr. 10 at Oaklawn. Transferred from Bob Baffert to Todd Pletcher at the outset of the Medina Spirit controversy, Following Sea overwhelmed an allowance field June 3 at Belmont with an easy 6 1/2-length romp.

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‘Remarkable’ Arklow Headlines Saturday’s United Nations

If ever the timeworn cliché about not getting older but getting better could be applied to a horse, it would be Arklow.

The son of Arch is now seven and has earned $2,750,746 in a 32-race career that dates to 2016. Even more impressive is that he has won a graded stakes race in each of the past five years.

He became a Grade 1 winner in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in the fall of 2019 and now, almost two years later, will be among the favorites at Monmouth Park for Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 United Nations Stakes, the supporting feature on the 14-race TVG.com Haskell Stakes card.

The United Nations will be contested at a mile and three-eighths on the grass, where Arklow excels.

“Winning a graded stakes five years in a row is a remarkable thing,” said Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, who saddled Arklow before his most recent victory in the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs in his only 2021 start. “I think it's a pedigree thing. He's an Arch. He felt like a horse that would always improve with age.”

Owned by Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and the estate of Peter Coneway, Arklow is back for a second straight crack at the United Nations. Sent off as the 13-10 favorite in 2020, he finished fourth. Thereafter, Cox added blinkers and Arklow has posed for winner's circle photos in three of his next four contests, all graded stakes, including the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar in the final race of his 2020 campaign.

“He's really moved forward since we've added the blinkers,” Cox said. “His only defeat with them came in the Breeders' Cup. The blinkers seem to have picked his head up and are keeping him in the race mentally. I've always said I hate to put blinkers on a horse that's made a couple of million dollars, but once we did it he turned the corner.”

The horse's only loss in those four races after the equipment change was a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf in November.

“We give him time off,” said Cox when addressing Arklow's longevity and successes. “It had been somewhat of a long year and then he got a break. I think that plays a big role. The owners of this horse are always willing to give him time. Once he's done so much, he gets a little vacation. He's rewarded them in staying consistent.”

Another astounding thing about Arklow is that he's stayed as sound and as willing as a young colt.

“We see all the signs that he still loves to do it,” said assistant trainer Blake Cox, who is overseeing the contingent of five horses, including Mandoloun, which the stable will run in all five graded stakes on Saturday's Haskell Stakes card. “He does so much after the wire and it's the way he does it. He's a mile-and-a-half horse and he's a grinder. He picks up every pole and you can't even pull him up. It's crazy. He tells you when he's ready.”

Arklow put in the last of his serious work for the United Nations at Monmouth Park on July 11 with a four-furlong breeze and has been training forwardly since. On Thursday, he was out on the track for a routine morning gallop, went to the gate and backed out, and then visited the paddock for a lesson.

“You don't see horses like this one anymore,” said Blake Cox, Brad Cox's son and assistant. “He handles everything thrown his way. He's a tough horse, no question. I think he likes a little give in the ground. I really do. It can rain as much as it wants or not, and he'll be fine.”

The horse's connections will be in attendance on Saturday, rooting for their iron horse.

“Winning the United Nations would mean a lot for everybody. He's already got a Grade 1 and we'd like to get another one for him,” said Blake Cox. “If everything goes right, I really think he can get the job done.”

It will be a busy and potentially-lucrative day for the Cox team on Saturday. In addition to Arlow in the Grade 1 United Nations and Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun in the Grade 1 Haskell, they're sending out Grade 1 winner and Juddmonte Farms homebred Juliette Foxtrot in the Grade 3 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes, Grade 2 winner Vault in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes, and Grade 3 winner Night Ops in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup Stakes.

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Competitive Filly Sprinters Kick Off Spa Juvenile Action

5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:21 p.m. ET

Split divisions of juvenile filly sprinters get the Saratoga baby race season underway on opening day Thursday, with this latter half appearing to be clearly the saltier spot on paper. Heads turned when a filly by thus-far unheralded freshman sire Valiant Minister hammered for $360,000–120 times the Bridlewood Farm resident's stud fee–at OBS April, but one viewing of OUTFOXED's breeze-show effort quickly explains why. The dark bay barreled through a powerful :20 4/5 quarter-mile work, sparking a bidding war that ended with Solis/Litt as the last entity standing on behalf of LNJ Foxwoods. The Bill Mott trainee shows a modest local worktab, but did work a half-mile in :49 flat (3/12) from the gate on the Oklahoma training track June 25. Two other debutantes have live looks in Solasta (Goldencents) and Echo Zulu (Gun Runner). The former, owned by Jeff Drown and Don Rachel, is a half-sister to GISW Mia Mischief who cost $300,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling buy. The bay has breezed sharply for Jeremiah Englehart, including a best-of-31 bullet half-mile from the gate over this strip in :47 3/5 July 1. The latter, who goes out for L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, is a half to last summer's GI H. Allen Jerkens S. hero Echo Town (Speightstown) and GSW J Boys Echo (Mineshaft). She sports a four-furlong gate bullet of her own, going the distance in :47 2/5 (1/44) June 15 at Keeneland. One of only two horses in the 10-horse group with racing experience, Pop-A-Top's Lady Scarlet (Union Rags) gets the slight nod on the morning line at 5-2 after showing good speed and finishing a clear second for Brad Cox in the opener June 4 at Churchill. TJCIS PPs

—@JBiancaTDN

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