All 4 Cox horses are scratched Friday from Remington stakes

All four of Brad Cox's horses who had been entered for races Friday night at Remington Park were scratched in Friday morning for reasons that have not been explained completely.

"They weren't available for a vet check this morning," Oklahoma chief steward David Moore told Horse Racing Nation on Friday afternoon. "The vet told me they weren't here. I called (Cox), and he scratched them. ... They're not here. I don't know where they are."

Fidget and Gettysburg Address were entered in the Remington Springboard Mile, a road to the Kentucky Derby points race. Juvenile filly West Omaha was the 7-5 morning-line favorite in the Trapeze Stakes. Pioneer of Medina, Cox's only older horse on the card, was the 5-2 morning-line choice for the Jeffrey A. Hawk Memorial Stakes.

Both Moore and a state racing executive said Cox did not have to say why he was removing his horses from the three races.

"If they're in a stakes race, they don't have to have a reason," Dr. John Chancey, executive director of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, told HRN on Friday afternoon. "A trainer or an owner can scratch their horses without a reason. We just call them a stakes scratch. That's all I have."

One source at the track said Friday evening, "Horses were on the grounds and left either late last night or early this morning, from what I am hearing."

Messages left for Cox via text and voice on his cell phone were not returned.

The scratches were reported first by Steve Byk on his "At the Races" radio show and posted on X by handicapper Jon Lindo.

Jockey Flavien Prat and his agent Brad Pegram told HRN they had no further details. Prat was named to ride three of the four scratched horses for Cox.

Gary West, the owner of West Omaha, deferred to Cox. Nacho Patino, general manager of Gettysburg Address's co-owner Siena Farm, said any details should come from Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, the other partner. Walden could not be reached for comment.

Remington Park texted horsemen on Thursday to tell them there would be no training over the track Friday, according to a post on X from Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form. The text said training would resume Saturday and run through Thursday. Overnights for Friday and Saturday said training would end Thursday but did not mention the morning track closure on Friday.

The National Weather Service predicted a 50 percent chance of showers Friday with between 0.10 and 0.25 inches of new rain by early afternoon.

Friday originally was scheduled to be closing night, but because of a lighting problem last week, one more card was added, so the meet will end with races Saturday.