Breeders’ Cup: Cox is confident he will return to winner’s circle

It really was a throwaway question meant to button the backof a seven-minute interview. Could Brad Cox have as big a Breeders’ Cup thisweek as he did in 2020, when he trained a record-tying four winners?

His answer Thursday morning at the Santa Anita shippers barndid not sound like small talk at all.

“Listen, Saturday evening I could be sitting here with nowins, but I am very confident these horses are going to run very, very well,”he said. He closed the answer by saying, “I do think that we could have a very,very big weekend, and I’m excited about these horses.”

Led by Distaff favorite and horse-of-the-year candidateIdiomatic, the two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has seven startersentered in Saturday’s races with four expected to carry single-digit odds towin.

“I’m very happy with the group we brought. I really am,”Cox, 43, told Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “They’ve alltrained very well. They’ve settled in well.”

Idiomatic, who is 7-for-7 this year in two-turn races,already figures to be Cox’s sixth horse to be an Eclipse Award winner and hissecond to be the best in the older, dirt female division, joining 2020 championMonomoy Girl. The 4-year-old Curlin filly bred and owned by Juddmonte was aGrade 1 winner her last two times out, finishing four or more lengths ahead inboth the Personal Ensign and the Spinster.

Morning-line writer Jon White made Idiomatic 5-2 for the Distaff, rating her Cox’s most likely winner Saturday.

“She deserves to be the shortest price just based offnumbers and what she’s accomplished,” Cox said. “She’s the now horse, right?She was able to win a Grade 1 in New York and then followed up with one inKentucky, so hopefully we can add the West Coast Grade 1 to her and hopefully achampionship would come after that. ... She’s ready to roll.”

Cox has two other Grade 1 winners entered in the Distaff.Wet Paint carries 10-1 morning-line odds and A Mo Reay 20-1. Adare Manor,Clairière, Search Results and Randomized also bring Grade 1 wins to the Distaffdance.

In a year when division leadership was fluid to start,Idiomatic has settled those choppy waters.

“I feel like she’s been the leader this fall,” Cox said. “Idon’t feel like it’s changed a tremendous amount the second half of this year.It depends on what she does Saturday. It will determine if it changes again.She’s in control of her own championship right now. If she can get there, she’dbe the unanimous champion, I would say.”

Florent Géroux, who has ridden every race during Idiomatic’scurrent four-race winning streak, keeps the assignment in the Distaff.

In the four other races where Cox has entries, Jaipur (G1)winner Caravel has the next-best program odds at 5-1 taking on males andfemales in defense of her 42-1 triumph last year in the Turf Sprint. That isdespite the fact the 6-year-old Mizzen Mast mare lost her last two races, settlingfor fourth three months ago in the Troy (G3) at Saratoga and by a neck threeweeks ago in the Franklin (G2) at Keeneland.

Cox blamed those losses on rain-softened ground.

“Just getting her back on firm turf is going to be the biggest thing,” Coxsaid. “We need to break well, not necessarily on the lead, but we need to beforwardly placed. Going five-eighths you can’t be too far out of it.”

Cox said Caravel, who keeps her regular rider TylerGaffalione, had better speed numbers than might have been expectedfrom those two defeats on soft and good turf.

“Her numbers are just as good as they were,” he said. “It’snot as if she’s regressed. If anything, leading up to this Breeders’ Cup, shelooks as fast on the (Ragozin) Sheets as she did last year. For whatever reasonin racing, when a horse wins they’re great, and when they get beat they’re notas great. I get it. You can’t make too many excuses for horses, but it’s prettyevident and obvious that she doesn’t like much give in the ground, and she’sgoing to get her firm turf here.”

Zozos, the 4-year-old Munnings colt who won the Ack Ack (G3)last month at Churchill Downs, is 6-1 to win the Dirt Mile and, in doing so,spoil the valedictory for last year’s popular winner and eye-catching closerCody’s Wish.

“We’re hoping to take control of the race early,” Cox said.“There’s no secret. Anybody who can look at a racing form and judge pace knowsthat his best trip is on the lead. We’re hoping he can kind of clear off alittle bit. ... I think this track may lend to his style, and we’re hoping thathe likes California. He’s obviously done most of his work there at Churchill,but we’re hopeful that he can transfer that form to Southern California.”

Géroux, who is 6: 4-1-0 riding Zozos, will have theassignment for the fifth time in a row.

Matareya has had two flat, third-place results in her lasttwo races, most recently the Ballerina Handicap (G3) in the mud at Saratoga.The 4-year-old Pioneerof the Nile filly bred and owned by Godolphin carries 6-1program odds in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Her regular jockey Flavien Pratwill ride her in hopes of upsetting 2022 winner and reigning division championGoodnight Olive. They did just that May 6 in the Derby City Distaff (G1) atChurchill Downs.

“Obviously, Goodnight Olive is going to be the heavyfavorite and deserves to be,” Cox said. “I think if we could somehow get atrip, we could maybe get the best of her again. We did once on Kentucky Derbyday. (Goodnight Olive) did have a troubled trip. We were on the right end ofthat. So if something similar happens, we could jump up and win.”

At 10-1, Saudi Crown will be a long shot in the Breeders’Cup Classic. One question is whether the winner of the Pennsylvania Derby (G1)will take to the fast track at Santa Anita the way he did to the slop at ParxRacing. Another is how much Géroux will have him pressing morning-line favoriteArabian Knight for the early lead.

“He will be forward, or we’re going to ask him to goforward,” Cox said. “Ultimately we have confidence Florent is going to put himin a great position. But yeah, we’re going to go forward. I don’t know if we’llbe first, second, third, wherever we’ll be. I’m confident that he’s going torun a big race and that he can set off of a horse if he has to. We’re justgoing to play the break and see how it goes.”

The championship week began for Cox with Timberlakefinishing fourth Friday in the Juvenile, so it will not be a perfect runthrough California. Still, he is calmly confident about his chances for gettingback to the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle for the sixth year in a row. And morethan once to push his career total to 10 and beyond.

“We’ve been there. I’m excited about being back,” he said. “Theseare good horses for world-class clients. We’re training for some of the bestpeople in the world, and they give us some of the best horses in the world.It’s our job to get them in this position, and now we have to get the job done.”