Brad Cox Joins the TDN’s Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland

Wandering Eyes · 2025-12-02T20:43:29Z

It was another banner weekend for trainer Brad Cox. His trainee, Further Ado (Gun Runner), passed a big test when winning the GII Kentucky Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. On the same card, he unveiled an impressive maiden winner in Cannoneer (Into Mischief), who romped by 7 1/4 lengths.

Cox, who joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland, will try to keep his streak going Saturday at Aqueduct, where he will send out Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo), who is 8-for-12 lifetime, in the GII Cigar Mile Handicap. He will discuss his weekend runners, how he so deftly manages a 160-horse stable that includes divisions at Oaklawn Park, Payson Park, the Fair Grounds, Turfway Park and Belmont Park in addition to other topics. Cox was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week.

After an explosive 20-length win in a maiden race at Keeneland, Further Ado stepped up and won the Kentucky Jockey Club by 1 3/4 lengths. Somewhat surprisingly, his Beyer number dropped from a 98 in the maiden win to an 82 in the Churchill stakes. Still, Cox was happy with what he saw.

“There was a dog fight down the lane and he ended up winning by 1 3/4 lengths,” Cox said. “I thought it was a good effort from a horse that was facing winners for the first time. That means a lot. I've always said that's one of the toughest things to do in racing, after you break your maiden immediately going after winners. He once again stepped up and I thought the performance was a big effort. Though I know he probably didn't match the numbers from his maiden win.”

Cox said that Further Ado, who is owned by Spendthrift Farm, will winter at Payson Park. Though in Florida, he may not run there because Spendthrift probably won't want to run him against probable Eclipse Award winner and Spendthrift owned Ted Noffey (Into Mischief). He is also based in Florida with Todd Pletcher.

Named a TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, Cannoneer, who Writers' Room panelist Randy Moss said was more impressive than Further Ado, was bought for $1.75 million at the Keeneland September Sale. After finishing third in his debut in June at Churchill, he came back five months later as a better horse. Cox was impressed.

“He's very talented,” Cox said. “He made the races early in the spring. After his first race I wasn't quite happy with the way he was moving, so we gave him the time. There could have been something maybe bothering him that day. We just didn't get the performance we were looking for. We backed off of him, gave him the time. He came back into Keeneland on the first of October and immediately, as soon as we worked him, we saw that the talent was still there. It never went anywhere. I had a pretty good feeling he was going to get ready quick, and he did. Obviously, he's a very talented horse. He showed that again. He showed that in his workouts prior to his first start and he was well bet. Obviously, he was an expensive yearling. He's still a pretty flashy work horse in the morning and he put it all together there Saturday evening.”

As consistent as he has been, Bishops Bay's biggest wins have come at the Grade III level. Though the Cigar Mile came up weak this year, a victory there will look good on the 5-year-old's resume.

“I love the draw,” Cox said. “I thought he drew really well. The outside post should give Flavien [Prat] an opportunity to break and either take control of the race or sit just off the pace. I feel like we've kind of campaigned him well and managed him properly. There is a new ownership group [KAS Stables] and the goal is to get him to the Middle East at some point. I think a big performance on Saturday could definitely, moving forward, get his rating up high enough to maybe take a chance in a race in the Middle East.”

The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Magnitude (Not This Time), who earned a 100 Beyer figure in his win in the GII Clark Stakes.

The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands the stallion Independence Hall.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Moss, Bill Finley and T.D. Thornton discussed the major stakes run last weekend at Churchill Downs and Del Mar. The focus at Del Mar was Chad Brown, who continued to dominate the late fall turf stakes there. He sent three horses west and all three won graded stakes. Thornton, who has been covering the Rudy Rodriguez situation for the TDN, gave an update on what's happening with the New York-based trainer, who may face serious charges from HISA that involve animal cruelty issues. The team also went over three of the major stakes that will be run Saturday at Aqueduct, the Cigar, the GII Remsen Stakes and the GII Demoiselle Stakes.

Click to watch the podcast or here to listen.