Cox is introspective about Mandaloun's 2021 Derby victory

When the paddock sign is changed Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs to show Mandaloun won last year’s Kentucky Derby, trainer Brad Cox might be midway over the Atlantic Ocean on the way to race his newly anointed winner in the Grade 1, $20 million Saudi Cup.

“My main focus right now is Mandaloun,” Cox told Horse Racing Nation's Ron Flatter Racing Pod in a telephone interview Monday afternoon, about three hours after the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced the disqualification of the late Medina Spirit because of a drug positive. “I hate to say we’re going to turn the page on it, because I don’t think it’s completely over.”

Cox has been keenly aware of how this would unfold. That he eventually would be called for his reaction to a promotion of his colt from second to first. And that trainer Bob Baffert and the legal team representing him and Medina Spirit would appeal, as they promised to do when they heard the ruling.

For now, though, Mandaloun is the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. That means Cox is the first native of Louisville, Ky., to have trained a Derby winner.

“Honestly, it’s not really the thrill of winning a race,” Cox said. “You know, the thrill of victory, right? The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. When you win the Kentucky Derby, for some people it’s the biggest race in the world. It would be for me. To not really have that, it’s a race that’ll have an asterisk by it.”

Related: Medina Spirit is disqualified from 2021 Kentucky Derby win

Sounding more matter-of-fact than buoyant more than nine months after the actual race, Cox has had all that time to think about how he would react to an adjudicated victory.

“I’m hopeful something good can come from it in regards to maybe some pre-race testing,” he said. “When we lead these horses in the paddock, we know exactly what’s going on. I think there’s a very cloudy area with medication testing in regards to withdrawals on certain medications. All that needs to be cleaned up. We’ve got a long way to go in the horse business.”

In fact, Cox expressed optimism that this spotty episode in the Derby’s 147-year history can be a catalyst to reform in the sport.

“We need to get medication rules uniform throughout racing and have it run a little bit better,” Cox said. “I'm hopeful that with this happening, we can take a step forward toward things becoming a little clearer in the future, and we won't have to go through this again.”

Cox’s reaction certainly was more thoughtful than the run-of-the-mill thanks to owners and riders and stable workers, because this was not a run-of-the-mill victory. It was clear he took the specter of the Medina Spirit drug positive very seriously.

“At the end of the day horse racing has been very good to me,” said Cox, 41, the winner of the last two Eclipse Awards as trainer of the year. “I have three sons that could very well be active in the sport. I want this game to be around for a long, long time, and hopefully it is for generations to come. We just have to do our best to promote it in the right way.”