Trainer Brad Cox Flying High
High-percentage trainer Brad Cox smashed previous personal bests across the board in 2014, a year highlighted by his first graded stakes victory and first Breeders’ Cup starter.
“It was a good year,” said Cox, 34, who annually winters at Oaklawn. “I hope to do bigger and better things next year, but I wouldn’t say I was blown away. It just happens, and you just get up the next day and keep doing it, really.”
Through Thursday, Cox had won 75 of 290 starts (25.9 percent), and his horses had earned $2,384,976 this year. His previous high for victories (55) and purse earnings ($924,770) occurred in 2010.
The trainer’s career year was sparked by his success at Oaklawn, where he finished tied for fourth in victories – 18 from just 70 starters – and fourth in purse earnings ($683,976) in 2014. Among the highlights, he saddled Carve, owned by Mike Langford of Jonesboro, Ark., to a third-place finish in the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses.
Carve went on to win the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) June 28 at Prairie Meadows and run sixth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Oct. 31 at Santa Anita. These represented the first graded stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup starter for Cox since he saddled his first career winner in 2004.
Cox is pointing Carve toward the $100,000 Fifth Season Stakes Jan. 10 at Oaklawn, with the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 11 again the major spring objective.
“He could very easily be as good next year as he was this year,” Cox said.
Known for his shrewd claims, Cox won a three-way shake, or blind draw, to take Prosecution for $16,000 last February at Oaklawn on behalf of Arkansas owners Staton Flurry (Hot Springs) and Starsky Weast (Star City).
Prosecution, a 5-year-old A.P. Indy gelding, subsequently became a force in starter-allowance company, good enough to win at Churchill Downs and Saratoga, the historic venue in upstate New York.
Prosecution, who bankrolled $128,735 in 2014, worked a half-mile in :48.40 Tuesday morning.
“He’s been a solid horse,” Cox said. “He’s still eligible for the first level allowance, believe it or not.”
Cox said Flurry’s Little Miss Flurry, turned out following a runner-up finish behind Delta Flower in last March’s $75,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred fillies at Oaklawn, will run at the 2015 meeting.
Cox has 50 horses in training – 34 at Oaklawn and 16 at Fair Grounds. Little Miss Flurry has been training at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
Cox said his Oaklawn stable is heavy on young horses, allowance types and high-priced claimers.
“We want to keep rolling,” Cox said.
Final Lines
Darren Fleming is again overseeing trainer Steve Asmussen’s Oaklawn division. Asmussen is seeking his fourth consecutive Oaklawn training title, and seventh since 2007. Asmussen’s six titles equal the third-highest total in Oaklawn history, trailing only Hall of Famer Henry Forrest (11) and Bob Holthus (9). … Horses for trainer Kenny McPeek, who was born in Fort Chaffee, Ark., are now on the grounds. … Trainer Brad Cox said he plans to use jockeys Shaun Bridgmohan and Jesus Castanon during the 2015 live meeting that begins Jan. 9.
Source: Oaklawn Park