Tag: brad cox

Timberlake Fine After Rebel Win, Next Start Undecided

WinStar Farm's Timberlake (Into Mischief) exited his win in Saturday's GII Rebel S. in fine shape, according to Jorgito Abrego, Oaklawn Park assistant to trainer Brad Cox.

“He looks good,” Abrego said. “Looks very happy.”

Timberlake, winner of last year's GI Champagne S. and fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, collected 50 qualifying points for the victory and has 66 overall to rank number one on the Kentucky Derby leader board released Saturday by Churchill Downs. The Rebel was his first victory around two turns.

“I'm very happy,” said Abrego, who saddled Timberlake with Cox in Saudi Arabia for Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup. “First time running as a 3-year-old. It's a good start for getting him to the Kentucky Derby.”

Timberlake is expected to ship back to Cox's Fair Grounds base Monday and his next start is still to be determined.

The Rebel victory continued Cox's domination of Oaklawn's Derby prep races. Since 2021, the trainer has won seven of the track's last 15 points races. He won Oaklawn's first 2024 Kentucky Derby points race, the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones S., with Catching Freedom (Constitution).

“I love it,” Abrego said with a laugh. “Keep it going. Never stop.”

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Rebel Goes to Timberlake in Classy Effort

Two turns? It turns out there's no problem.

When Timberlake (c, 3, Into Mischief–Pin Up {Ire}, by Lookin At Lucky) finished a somewhat rank, then flat, fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, questions swirled about his ability to get two turns. Trainer Brad Cox brushed the questions aside and let the horse do the talking. A freshened Timberlake, making his first start of the year in Oaklawn's GII Rebel S. Saturday, captured the $1.3-million race by a resounding two lengths over Kenny McPeek trainees Common Defense (Karakontie {Jpn}) and Northern Flame (Flameaway). The Rebel offered points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.

When the Rebel gates flew, Timberlake broke smoothly to tuck in nicely behind the speed in fourth. 'TDN Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole) led the way, with Northern Flame just behind and Woodcourt (Ransom the Moon) pressuring from third. Timberlake held his spot as Common Defense slipped through on the inside and Mena (Hard Spun) ranged up to his outside. Up front, Carbone notched the first quarter in :23.20 and the half in :47.67 as Timberlake sat loaded and patient a few lengths back. The winner swung wide on the turn, took several strides to swap to his correct lead, drifted out under a left-hand stick, and corrected in the lane. Jockey Cristian Torres stayed busy late, keeping Timberlake's mind on business, and the pair edged clear, holding a rail-rallying Common Defense at bay by two lengths.

Timberlake has done very little wrong in his eight-month career. A June debut at Ellis Park saw him break a step slow and finish several spots off the board behind Rhyme Schemes (Ghostzapper), who later won the GII Saratoga Special. A month later, Timberlake made good on the $350,000 WinStar Farm shelled out for him at the previous year's Keeneland September sale as he ran away by 9 1/4 lengths to win at seven furlongs and nab the 'TDN Rising Star' tag reserved for special prospects. A second in the GI Hopeful S. and that fourth in the Breeders' Cup were sandwiched around a daylight victory by the bay in the GI Champagne S.

The Rebel marked Timberlake's first start of the year; he had been ranked ninth on the most recent TDN Sophomore Top 12 going into the Rebel. He was the sole Grade I winner in Oaklawn's Saturday feature and also owned the highest speed figures with a pair of 93 Beyers.

Pedigree Notes:

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias, Timberlake is one of 68 graded winners for Spendthrift's five-time leading sire Into Mischief, who also sports a gaudy 145 black-type winners worldwide. While Timberlake is the only Into Mischief stakes winner out of a Lookin At Lucky mare, he also has GSW Bye Bye out of a mare by Smart Strike, Lookin At Lucky's sire, and a great number of black-type winners hailing from the Mr. Prospector broodmare line. The latter includes 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic, who stands beside his sire at Spendthrift. Lookin At Lucky, who is not standing this Northern Hemisphere season but remained in Chile, has 11 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Pin Up (Ire), dam of Timberlake, won twice at marathon distances in England. Her dam, by Sadler's Wells, is a full-sister to Irish champions and G1SWs Yesterday (Ire) and Quarter Moon (Ire), as well as a half-sister to $5.2-million Fasig-Tipton broodmare Betterbetterbetter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Pin Up produced a 2022 colt by Army Mule, who brought $30,000 from Tate Shaw at last October's Fasig-Tipton yearling sale, and a 2023 colt by Known Agenda.

Timberlake traces tail female to Mumtaz Mahal (GB) (The Tetrarch {GB}), who was known as the “Flying Filly,” and was one of the Aga Khan's foundation mares. Mumtaz Mahal, born in 1921 yet whose influence is still felt today, is Timberlake's 10th dam.

 

Saturday, Oaklawn
REBEL S.-GII, $1,250,000, Oaklawn, 2-24, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.00, ft.
1–TIMBERLAKE, 119, c, 3, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Pin Up (Ire) (SP-Eng), by Lookin At Lucky
                2nd Dam: All My Loving (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
                3rd Dam: Jude (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
($350,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star' O-WinStar Farm
LLC; B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Cristian A.
Torres. $618,750. Lifetime Record: GISW, 6-3-1-0, $1,094,350.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Common Defense, 117, c, 3, Karakontie (Jpn)–Allusion, by
Street Cry (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($9,000 RNA Wlg '21 KEENOV). O-David A. Bernsen, Tony &
Michael Holmes & Norevale Farm; B-Tony Holmes, Norevale
Farm & Union Dale (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $206,250.
3–Northern Flame, 122, c, 3, Flameaway–Darling's Darling, by
Bernardini. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($425,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG). O-Jack Oxley, Harold Lerner LLC,
AWC Stables & Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek); B-Debby
Oxley (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $103,125.
Margins: 2, 3, 1. Odds: 0.80, 27.20, 15.20.
Also Ran: Woodcourt, Dimatic, Carbone, Just Steel, Next Level, Lagynos, Magic Grant, Mena, Tejon Pass. Scratched: Time for Truth. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Derby And Oaks Points Ripe On Graded Sunny Saturday At Oaklawn

The massive deep freeze which crippled the second half of Oaklawn Park's January cards seems like a distant memory, as weekend weather in Hot Springs looks to punch through the upper 60s and into the lower 70s. The sunshine will be a welcome sight with points intended for passage to the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks ripe for the picking.

 

Timberlake Favorite Choice in Rebel

The Arkansas series for the colts features another running of the GII Rebel S., which brings together a field of 13.

The class headliner looking to take home 50 Derby credits to the winner is 'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief). Bred by St. Elias and owned by WinStar, the Brad Cox trainee is coming off the shelf for his 3-year-old debut.

Last summer, the bay powered across the Ellis Park wire by 9 1/4 lengths which earned him a 'Rising Star' blue ribbon at second asking. As the runner-up in the GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga, he returned to New York a month later to capture the GI Champagne S. during the Belmont at the Big A meet. His juvenile campaign came to a close when he finished fourth to 'Rising Stars' Fierceness (City of Light), Muth (Good Magic) and Locked (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

“We gave him a little bit of a break after the Breeders' Cup,” said Cox. “He had a long campaign, and we were very happy with what he was able to accomplish at the age of 2. Just excited about what lies ahead for him. He's really turned it on over the last two weeks with his works. We feel like we've got him about as good as we're going to get him.”

Timberlake is the only entry without an attempt over the local strip in Hot Springs. Out of the other 12, Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, who welcomed as an investor current Oaklawn leading owner Staton Flurry, will look for 'TDN' Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole) to improve. The favorite in the GIII Southwest S. turned in a seventh-place finish.

Others in for a bushel full of points include a pair from Ken McPeek's shedrow. Northern Flame (Flameaway) missed hitting the board last fall in the GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and in the GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs. However, his gate to wire win against optional claimers at Oaklawn Jan. 28 proves he can be dangerous up front. His stablemate Common Defense (Karakontie {Jpn}) displays the complete opposite running style, as he likes to be heard from late in the game.

“(Northern Flame) has improved from 2 to 3,” said trainer Ken McPeek, who just celebrated his 2,000th victory this week. “He fought on well in that allowance race. He's a good, solid colt. … (Common Defense) didn't like the mud last time. I'm hoping for a dry track this weekend. I started to take him to the (Mar. 2) Battaglia Memorial at Turfway because I think ultimately his future may be on turf. He worked so good this week that I went ahead and put him back in at Oaklawn.”

Making his third start over the Oaklawn dirt is the experienced picker Just Steel (Justify) for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who was the runner-up in the GIII Southwest S. He will break to the inside of an upstart named Time for Truth (Omaha Beach) on the stretch out for conditioner Ron Moquett and principal owner Harry T. Rosenbaum.

 

Honeybee Could Be Sweet For West Omaha

West Omaha | Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges, Jr.

Just as with the boys, the fillies are also looking to harvest a top prize of 50 points. Their haul in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. will be applied towards a spot in the starting gate for the GI Kentucky Oaks.

Leading the charge is another from Cox's stable, who like Timberlake, has been working out at his Fair Grounds base. Gary and Mary West's homebred West Omaha (West Coast) was scratched out of the GII Rachel Alexandra S. after she won the Silverbulletday S. by five lengths in New Orleans Jan. 20.

The filly will tangle the Martha Washington S. winner Band of Gold (Preservationist). The McPeek trainee turned on the jets down the lane in that Feb. 3 stakes race and won by 2 3/4 lengths in what was an impressive display of speed.

Finally, Greg Tramontin, who left racing for 23 years before returning once again as an owner in 2018, enters Alys Beach (Omaha Beach). The chestnut debuted a winner last summer at Saratoga under Tom Amoss, but she was a well-beaten fourth in the GI Spinaway S. upstate before the meet closed and when she faded to third in the GI Alcibiades S. at Keeneland in early October.

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The Avengers: Five Americans Look To Take Back Saudi Cup

In the previous four runnings of the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, American-based horses have–surprisingly–passed the post in first on a single occasion while finishing second on each occasion. That 'victory' came in the much-discussed inaugural running in 2020, a result that seems likely to soon be overturned, albeit to the benefit of another American horse.

So, even though the U.S. is the epicenter of world dirt racing, its five representatives this year arguably still have something to prove when a field of 14 loads the gate around 12:40 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. And it's anything but a fait accompli that one of them gets their picture taken in the King Abdulaziz winner's enclosure a short time thereafter.

We will analyze America's chances in these pages and will have a look at the runners from defending champion Japan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, plus previews for Saturday's five other group races back in TDN Europe.

White Abarrio (Race Day) looks to become the first winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic to double up in Riyadh and races first-up since his defeat of the re-opposing Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) at Santa Anita on the first Saturday of November. The 5-year-old really came to life at the back end of 2023, powering home in the Whitney prior to his Classic effort.

“We thought we had a chance of beating a couple of horses in the [Whitney],” trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. told the Saudi Cup notes team earlier this week. “We weren't expecting or hoping to beat Cody's Wish (Curlin), but two turns at Saratoga might not have been Cody's Wish's game, who knows, so we said we'd take a chance.

He continued, “But I never got to breeze him for the race, so we were like 10 days without breezing and you just show up. But we did breeze him the morning of [the race] and Irad [Ortiz] happened to be there watching. It wasn't my plan, I wasn't even there, I was on my way up because I had to train at Belmont but Irad caught it and he was wondering if we were going to scratch!” laughed the trainer.

“When I knew that we were coming here, it was like 11 days before we came and I was like man, they are playing into our hands because we don't need to breeze him,” the conditioner continued. “We can play the same game and right now I feel that he is over the trip and he's himself now.”

White Abarrio, who will carry the red-and-white silks of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdulaziz, has saddle cloth 14, but gate one, and he'll want to leave there running to be handy to a pace that maps above-average quick. Dutrow has expressed his intention to blow out his charge on race morning.

 

 

 

National Treasure is one of three in the race for Quality Road, who accounted for 2022 Saudi Cup stunner Emblem Road. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad employed front-running tactics to take out last year's GI Preakness S. and nearly pulled off the upset when ridden the same way in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last November. But the 4-year-old showed a bit of a rating gear when last seen in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., as he shook free into the final furlong and held the rallying Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) in the run to the line.

“He has a good post to work from in seven,” said Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert. “This is our fifth runner in this race, we have been second three times (Charlatan, 2021, Country Grammer, 2022-23), so we are hoping to make the breakthrough.”

Senor Buscador figures to sit a good trip from gate four beneath Junior Alvarado.

Reigning GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) may have been out of his depth in the Classic, as he was a beaten horse a long way from home, but this 1800-meter trip figures to suit him much better. He was a convincing winner of the GIII Louisiana S. when last seen Jan. 20, but those immediately behind that day made no impact in the GIII Mineshaft S. last weekend.

“I think he's more suited from a mile [1600m] to a mile and an eighth [1800m] and the one turn should be ideal for him,” jockey Florent Geroux said. “It's a very deep race. I've been on him many times before, I know him very well, the work rider has done a perfect job and I'll leave it to them.”

Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) is the least-likely among the five U.S. horses, but did post a 109 Beyer in wiring the GII Cigar Mile H. back in December.

“It's all about winning,” said trainer Dallas Stewart. “If you're not in it to win, you best stay home and if you don't want to be in great races like this, you ought to go do something else.”

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