Brad Cox Joins The TDN Writer’s Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland

Wandering Eyes · February 12

It sometimes seems that not a weekend goes by where Brad Cox isn't making news and visiting the winner's circle somewhere after winning another important race. That was the case last weekend as Cox won the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs with John Hancock (Constitution). This coming weekend he'll send out one of his top threats for the GI Kentucky Oaks when the filly Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) makes her 2025 debut in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds.

To talk about past successes and what's ahead for his stable, Cox was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland.

Cox hasn't decided where John Hancock, who has made just two career starts, will run next, but he said he'll have just one more race before the Derby.

“I think all the preps at the end of March and the beginning of April are in play,” he said. “Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida Derby, the Wood Memorial, all those races. He came out of the race in good order and I'm happy with what we saw from him the day after. I want to give the horse an opportunity to regroup a little bit and take one big swing at a 100-point race.”

He also has the lightly raced Tappan Street (Into Mischief), who is coming off a second-place finish in the GIII Holy Bull S.

“I think he's going to go next in the Florida Derby,” Cox said. “It's a race that offers 100 points to the winner. He picked up eight points in the Holy Bull, so we'll give him one big swing. Obviously this Derby trail, it's tough to go through the grind of it. It's not just about getting in the Derby. You want to have something left if you are able to get to the Derby. He's had two runs there at Gulfstream and will have one more run if all goes well. I hope that would propel him forward.”

Good Cheer is undefeated in four starts, but the Rachel Alexandra will not be in easy spot. The competition includes GII Demoiselle S. runner-up Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and Silverbulletday S. winner Simply Joking (Practical Joke).

“I really love how she's doing,” Cox said. “I know it's typical trainer talk, but she is training well. We've had her down at Payson Park training her. She gets through that track very well. I think if you can get through that track and you're working well, galloping out well, you can normally take your show on the road. This is our first season there and we've had some success out of there. So I'm hoping she can show up as a three-year-old just like she did as a two-year-old. It's not a big field, but I think it's a very good group of three-year-old fillies. And a lot of people know that this path through New Orleans is a very good path toward having success in the Kentucky Oaks. So I'm excited about getting her started on Saturday.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, we went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Independence Hall. The fastest horse of the week was Colloquial (Vekoma), who earned a 106 Beyer when winning a maiden race at Aqueduct.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association,https://pabred.com/https://www.kentuckybred.org/https://www.nyrabets.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the KTOB, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley dissected the ultra-impressive performance by Colloquial and discussed his future. Is he a Kentucky Derby horse or will he prove to be best suited to sprint races? The team also discussed the future of Tampa Bay Downs, which has now been included in the on-going decoupling efforts in Florida, and gave their picks for the upcoming GII Risen Star S. and the Rachel Alexandra.