Juddmonte Farms Inc's 2-year-old filly Sun Path pressed the early pace of Rock Star Parking, took full command on the turn, and drew off to win a first-level Friday allowance under a hand ride for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux. The margin of victory was 12 ¾ lengths for the .20-1 favorite and she stopped the timer in 1:42.95 for one mile and 70 yards over a fast track.
“It was a short field, but I thought she ran well,” Cox said. “It was her first time around two turns and she continued the education process. It went really well. She's a good filly.”
By Munnings out of the Tapit mare Touch the Star, Sun Path is a full sister to 2020 Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade 2) winner Bonny South.
“At this stage of the game, she's better,” Cox said of Sun Path. “She showed more this summer than Bonny (South) showed as a 2-year-old. She's got a long way to go to catch up to Bonny's accomplishments, but at this stage of the game, there's more talent and speed there and she does things maybe a touch easier.”
According to Cox, the locally run $150,000 Silverbulletday on Saturday, Jan. 16 is “in play,” but he'll likely give her a little more time between starts.
“We will also look at the Martha Washington (Jan. 30 at Oaklawn Park) or we might just wait for the Rachel Alexandra (G2) (Feb.13 at Fair Grounds). We will just see how well she bounces out of this race, how it shapes up, how it plays out and let her tell us.”
One race earlier on the card for Cox and Geroux, Godolphin LLC's Divine Comedy put herself on the map with an impressive maiden score, wiring a field of eight foes by 5 ¼ widening lengths while eased under the wire.
“She appreciated the two turns,” Cox said of the 2-year-old daughter of Into Mischief. “First time out (sixth at Churchill Downs in a 6 ½-furlong sprint on September 17) she ran well but we knew she needed more ground. She had a little minor setback, nothing we had to send her out for, and it took a little time for her to get over that. She had a fantastic breeze here last week, we expected her to run big and she responded well.”
Cox also reported that Juddmonte Farms Inc's Mandaloun, an impressive winner of consecutive races in Kentucky, is being pointed for the $200,000 Lecomte (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on January 16. The Into Mischief colt is scheduled to breeze a local half mile on Saturday morning.
The post Juddmonte’s Full Sister To Bonny South On Path To Stakes Company After Fair Grounds Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
