Cox also won last year's edition of the Pippin with Getridofwhatailesu, and was just a few inches shy of sweeping Oaklawn's two-turn stakes series for older fillies and mares in 2021. He sent out Monomoy Girl to win last year's $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) and Shedaresthedevil to win the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2). Monomoy Girl, in what would be her final career start, was beaten a nose by Letruska in the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) to deny Cox a four-race sweep.

When Coach broke sharply, Santana sent the filly out to take the lead but kept her off the deeper inside rail, about three-wide down the backstretch. They marked the first quarter in :23.44 and the half in :47.60. Miss Bigly tracked the pace along the inside, and moved up around the half-mile pole to draw even with the frontrunner.

Head-and-head around the far turn, the two riders were waiting to cue their mounts for the stretch run. When the question was asked, it was Coach and Santana who managed to find another gear on the outside. Coach pulled away from Miss Bigly with ease, racing to the wire a three-length winner. Miss Bigly had to settle for second, while W W Fitzy checked in third and Breeze Rider was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Three Lyons Racing, Coach is out of the Exchange Rate mare And Stay Out. She was a $65,000 yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale, and won her first three races including the Rags to Riches Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs. On the Kentucky Oaks trail, Coach managed a third in the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn before finishing ninth in the Run for the Lillies. She did not race again until December, when she won her comeback race at Oaklawn.

Overall, Coach's record stands at five wins from 10 starts for earnings of $387,840.

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Probable post time for the Pippin, the eighth of nine races, is 3:46 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:30 p.m.

Cox won the last year's Pippin with Getridofwhatailesu, then captured the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) with two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl and the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) with Shedaresthedevil. Monomoy Girl, in what would be her final career start, was beaten a nose by Letruska in the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) to deny Cox a four-race sweep.

Cox bids for his second Pippin victory with Kueber Racing LLC's Coach, the early 9-5 choice who retains eight-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. Coach exits a sharp two-length allowance victory at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 17, which marked her first start since finishing ninth in the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) for 3-year-old fillies April 30 at Churchill Downs.

“She was just a horse that we had run a lot, her 2-year-old season and then throughout her 3-year-old season, trying to get her into the Oaks,” Cox said. “We got her to the Oaks. She just needed a break and she got it.”

Coach began her career with three consecutive victories, including the $98,000 Rags to Riches Stakes in October 2020 at Churchill Downs. Coach went through Oaklawn's series of Kentucky Oaks points races last year, finishing second in the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes, fifth in the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) and third in the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3). Her allowance victory last month at Oaklawn snapped a five-race losing streak.

“She ran good,” said Cox, leading trainer at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting. “Tough, tough field.”

The projected seven-horse Pippin lineup from the rail out: Coach, Ricardo Santana Jr., 122 pounds, 9-5 on the morning line; Breeze Rider, E.T. Baird, 122, 5-1; W W Fitzy, David Cohen, 122, 8-1; Itsallinthenotes, Kelsi Harr, 122, 20-1; Josie, Ramon Vazquez, 122, 5-2; Miss Bigly, Martin Garcia, 122, 5-2; and Wellington Wonder, David Cabrera, 117, 12-1.

Miss Bigly has kept fast company in her career, facing the likes of Monomoy Girl, As Time Goes By and Envoutante in the Midwest and Southern California.

An allowance winner at one mile last April at Oaklawn, Miss Bigly exits a third-place finish in the $300,000 Chilukki Stakes (G3) Nov. 20 at Churchill Downs. The Chilukki was also a mile. Miss Bigly has five published workouts at Oaklawn since Dec. 4.

“I think she's coming into the race in good shape,” said Miss Bigly's Southern California-based trainer, Phil D'Amato, who has nine horses at Oaklawn. “I believe she won on a wet-fast track at Oaklawn last year, so I don't think if it rains, we'll have any issues there. Her last couple of breezes have been very sharp, with Martin Garcia breezing her.”

Multiple stakes winner Breeze Rider won seven races in 2021, but has done her best work on turf or a synthetic surface for trainer Steve Manley. Josie was an allowance winner at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting for Cox. She is now with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

W W Fitzy adds blinkers for 2020 Oaklawn training champion Robertino Diodoro after running fourth behind Coach and Wellington Wonder Dec. 17 at Oaklawn. She was claimed out of the race for $62,500.

“We're trying to get some speed back in her,” Diodoro said, referring to the equipment change. “Training good. We'll see.”

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Several horses vied for the lead throughout the one-mile race with Wicked Whisper leading for the first quarter in :23 2/5 and Graysonsmacho Girl leading to the half mile mark in :47, but in the end they were no match for the winner, who won the race in 1:38 2/5 over a fast track under jockey Joe Rocco Jr. Our Super Freak, who stalked the pace throughout, took second, and Istan Council was third.

Getridofwhatailesu was the second Oaklawn stakes winner in two days for trainer Brad Cox, who also won the opening day Smarty Jones with Caddo River. Shortly before the Pippin he won the $3-million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park with 2020 Oaklawn allowance winner Knicks Go.

Getridofwhatailesu, a 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare, improved her record to four wins from seven starts and has now earned $259,197. She returned $19.20, $8.60 and $5.60 at odds of 8-1.

Silver State Noses Out Hunka Burning Love In Fifth Season Stakes
Two races earlier, Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Willis Horton Racing LLC's Silver State became a stakes winner in his 4-year-old debut when he edged pacesetter Hunka Burning Love by a nose in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes.

Silver State, ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., was the last out of the gate and was unhurried early as Hunka Burning Love led through early fractions of :23 3/5 and :47 2/5. The winner caught up to the front runner entering the stretch and wore him down late for the victory in 1:37 3/5 for one mile over a fast track. Night Ops was third.

Silver State is trained by Steve Asmussen, who one race later won his 700^th race at Oaklawn. The Hard Spun colt has now won four of eight career starts and has earned $330,094. The 4-5 favorite returned $3.80, $2.60 and $2.10.

Live racing resumes Sunday with a 1 p.m. first post. The meet continues through Saturday, May 1.

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Probable post time for the Pippin, the eighth of nine races, is 4:47 p.m. (Central). First post for the second of 57 scheduled race days is 1 p.m. (Central).

Wicked Whisper is the slight 3-1 program favorite for the Pippin, which drew a field of 12 and is Oaklawn's first of three preps for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 17. The series continues with the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) Feb. 15 and the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 13.

Wicked Whisper was among the country's top 2-year-old fillies of 2019 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong of Conway, Ark. She was a front-running 6 ¼-length winner of her career debut at Saratoga and a front-running 2 ¾-length winner of her next start, the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1), at Belmont Park. Wicked Whisper's unbeaten record and hopes for an Eclipse Award crashed with a fifth-place finish in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita, a 1 1/16-mile race that marked her two-turn debut.

Sandwiched around minor injury (splint bone) and minor illness, Wicked Wisper captured 1 of 4 starts last year and was withdrawn from Fasig-Tipton's November Sale (Nov. 8) – she was entered as a racing or broodmare prospect – to get another shot for the same racing team in 2021.

“Not really,” Alex Lieblong said, when asked if he seriously considered retiring Wicked Whisper. “He (Asmussen) knew to raise his hand at any point where he thought we should and he didn't. She had a real busy period there for a while, so we thought, 'OK, let's back off her for a while and see what can shape up at Oaklawn.' We did have her in the November Sale, just in case something did show up physically with her during that time. Nothing ever showed up physically, so that gave us a little bit of time for, hopefully, Steve to work his magic and stretch her out.”

Wicked Whisper's final two starts last year were at 6 furlongs. She won the $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) Oct. 3 at Pimlico and finished an even fifth in the $125,000 Fort Springs Stakes Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Wicked Whisper had been scheduled to make her 3-year-old debut in the $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) last March at Oaklawn, but spiked a fever approximately a week before the race, Lieblong said, and her first start didn't come until early July.

“You just couldn't make it up,” said Lieblong, chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission. “But one thing I've learned in this business is it's got several ways to bite you.”

Wicked Whisper has had five published workouts at Oaklawn since Dec. 20 in advance of her 4-year-old debut. From the first crop of Grade 1 winner Liam's Map, Wicked Whisper was purchased for $500,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Wicked Whisper is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Point of Honor, who finished third in the $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares last year at Oaklawn. The Lieblongs were Oaklawn's third-leading owners in 2020.

The 7-2 second choice in the program is Istan Council, who is seeking her first career stakes victory. Istan Council was a 2019 allowance winner at Oaklawn, finished third in the $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes Aug. 9 at Ellis Park and endured a brutal trip finishing second, beaten a head, in the $75,000 She's All In Stakes at a mile and 70 yards Dec. 18 at Remington Park. Daily Racing Form short comments from Istan Council's past performance running line for the She's All In said the 5-year-old mare lacked room until late, “best.”

“I thought it was one of the very few times you see in the Racing Form where the horse that ran second was much the best,” Jones said.

Other contenders include the Brad Cox-trained duo of Vault and Getridofwhatailesu and Our Super Freak. All are 6-1 in the program. Vault ran sixth in the $263,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) July 18 at Monmouth Park in her last start. Getridofwhatailesu, unraced since last March, has never run in a stakes race, but has won two of her last three starts. Our Super Freak ran second in last year's Molly Pitcher for trainer Cherie DeVaux, a former assistant to four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. DeVaux has never started a horse at Oaklawn.

The projected Pippin field from the rail out: Vault, Florent Geroux to ride, 115 pounds, 6-1; Figure It Out, Francisco Arrieta, 119, 12-1; Getridofwhatailesu, Joe Rocco Jr., 119, 6-1; Sara Sea, Fernando De La Cruz, 115, 30-1; Chance to Shine, Ken Tohill, 115, 10-1; Istan Council, Joe Talamo, 115, 7-2; Wicked Whisper, Ricardo Santana Jr., 122, 3-1; Blessed Again, Terry Thompson, 119, 30-1; Regal Beauty, Martin Garcia, 115, 8-1; His Glory, David Cabrera, 117, 12-1; Graysonsmacho Gal, Ramon Vazquez, 115, 15-1; and Our Super Freak, David Cohen, 115, 6-1.

Jones won last year's Pippin with the recently retired Whoa Nellie.

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“As we say, her name is Whoa Nellie, so getting her pulled up after her gallops and races is like 'Woah Nellie,'” Jones said. “She'll run all day and her forte is to go two turns.”

Whoa Nellie (post 1 at 8-5 with Florent Geroux) has blossomed since being stretched out over a route of ground and Jones is hoping to use the Broussard as a stepping-stone to what he hopes will be a big 2021 campaign. The 4-year-old daughter of Orb was a solid one-turn allowance performer to start her career but she took her game to a new level last winter when sent two turns. She won the Pippin at Oaklawn Park in January and then was second, beaten just a neck, in a Bayakoa (G3) in February.

“She showed in the Pippin and coming back in the Bayakoa this is what she is and we think her 5-year-old year could be a very big year for her,” Jones said. “She has learned to settle early and sits well now until we're ready to go. Needless to say, being by Orb and (out of a Medaglia d'Oro mare), distance is not an issue for her.”

Whoa Nellie, who is 5-for-11 lifetime, missed nine months after the Bayakoa and came back to run third in Churchill Downs' one-turn Chilukki (G3) Nov. 21, where she spotted recency to local Rachel Alexandra (G2) heroine and multiple graded stakes winner Finite. She made a bold middle-move before flattening out a bit late. The effort left Jones feeling very confident moving forward.

“She's better now than she was then,” Jones said. “Coming into that Chilukki off a nine-month layoff, that was not an easy task, and for her to run that well and against those horses, and to finish as well as she did, that race should tighten her up really well.”

Hoffman Family Racing LLC and Steve Landry's Beautiful Trauma (post 3 at 9-5 with James Graham) looms the one to catch, as she enters off a gate-to-wire win in an optional-claimer November 12 at Churchill for trainer Tom Amoss. The 3-year-old daughter of Tapiture is 3-for-7 lifetime but will make her stakes debut in the Broussard. She is familiar with the local main track, having won an off-the-turf optional-claimer here 370 days ago by 16 lengths.

Phoenix Thoroughbred III Ltd's Lady Apple (post 5 at 3-1 with Adam Beschizza) is looking to find the form that has earlier netted her a quartet of grade 3 wins for trainer Steve Asmussen. The 4-year-old daughter of Curlin was 5-for-7 in 2019, and won the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) at Sam Houston to kick off her season in January, but she is winless in five starts since. Lady Apple is 6-for-17 lifetime, with $1.038 million in earnings, and she gets back to the main track after running fourth in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) Sept. 12.

Completing the Joseph E. Spanky Broussard Memorial from the rail out: Four Lawn Chairs LLC's Longpants Required (post 2 at 20-1 with Shaun Bridgmohan), who broke her maiden two-back at Churchill for trainer Brendan Walsh; La Nora LLC's Joy Epifora (post 4 at 8-1 with Brian Hernandez Jr.), a G1 winner in her native Argentina but winless in four U.S. starts for trainer Ignacio Correas; and Rigney Racing LLC's Singita Dreams (post 6 at 12-1 with Miguel Mena), who won an off-the-turf optional-claimer two-back at Churchill for trainer Phil Bauer.

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