Now at the Top, Brad Cox Wants More
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 RACING CLUBS GATHERING STEAM NOW AT THE TOP, by Melissa Bauer-Herzog BRAD COX WANTS MORE When Canterbury Park started its racing club in 2009, its goal was just to educate racing fans in Minnesota about ownership. But in the near decade since it was formed, the club has proven to be an industry-changing idea with racetracks across the country following its model. “It never crossed my mind that other racetracks would be paying attention to what we were up to in Shakopee, Minnesota,” said Jeff Maday, Canterbury Park's media relations manager. “It is very gratifying to see what has happened with racing clubs at other tracks. So many have taken the idea in their own direction, adding unique variations, and have had tremendous success. We have many dedicated people in this industry that want racing to succeed and want to expose fans to ownership.” Click above to watch video of Brad Cox speaking about the Cont. p5 (click here) progression of his career to date IN TDN EUROPE TODAY by Bill Finley He’s developing a likely champion in Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), SIYOUNI STARS AS ARQANA AUGUST ENDS is third in the nation in wins and sixth in earnings and won this Siyouni (Fr) sired the €380,000 yearling topper on the final day year’s training title at the Fair Grounds and finished second at of the Arqana August Sale in Deauville. Click or tap here to Churchill. But Brad Cox isn’t satisfied. There’s driven and then go straight to TDN Europe. there’s Cox. He’s obsessive, obsessive to the point where satisfaction is a foreign concept. “I’m not content,” the trainer said. “I’m not content at all. I am happy with what we have accomplished as a team, but by no means am I content.” If he would take a deep breath, step back and relax for moment--he won’t--Cox might just realize how that statement is almost laughable. Just 38 and not far removed from being a claiming trainer who was down to three horses in 2012, his accomplishments over the last few years are remarkable. More than 650 winners since 2016, training titles at Ellis, Churchill and the Fair Grounds and, this year, four Grade I wins with Monomoy Girl. He now has over 100 horses and has recently attracted owners like Juddmonte Farm, Calumet, Don Alberto and, of course, Sol Kumin, the principal owner of Monomoy Girl. But he is not the No. 1 trainer in the sport. Nor No. 2 or 3, and that eats at him. He says he will do whatever it takes to get there and says it with such conviction that it is hard to imagine him not reaching his goals. Cont. p3 WITH MORE THAN 700 STAKES RACES* LEFT TO RUN IN 2018... Tiznow’s SKEPTIC winning the Monmouth Oaks (G3), earning a $20,000 WIN award for breeders G. Watts Humphrey Jr. & St. George Farm, LLC More than ** 2018 WINners include: $2,700,000 in breeder incentives awarded BAN Partnership Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton Robert Low & Lawana Low Branch Family Trust & Silver Fern Farm, LLC Rosemont Farm LLC Brookdale, Jack Swain III Jerry & Ann Moss Sequel Stallions New York LLC & Double K LLC Mary and Chester Broman SF Bloodstock LLC Colts Neck Stables Millennium Farms Siena Farms, LLC Courtlandt Farm Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes Sierra Farm C. R. Trout Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC Stonestreet Thoroughbred Darley Peter Redekop BC Ltd. Holdings LLC Extern Developments Ltd. Pope McLean, Pope McLean Jr. Susan Casner Fred W. Hertrich III & Marc McLean Thorndale Stable LLC G. Watts Humphrey Jr. Ramona S. Bass, LLC Town & Country, Taylor Bros. & St. George Farm, LLC Ramspring Farm William D. Graham WILL YOU BE NEXT? For more information visit: Breed to Big. www.WinStarFarm.com/WINnetwork *Scheduled as of 8/20/18 * * Since November 2016, awarded in WinStar dollars applicable for 1 year to any WinStar Stallion PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Tuesday, August 21, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor Sarah K. 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WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN TODAY’S GRADED STAKES [email protected] European Editor EST Race Click for TV Emma Berry 7:10a Prix Daphnis Royal Palm Beachcomber Luxury-G3, DEA -------------- ----- [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 8 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • AUGUST 21, 2018 “The goal is to have graded stakes horses,” he said. “We want “When I lost the Midwest horses, I made a goal that I wanted to win the [GI] Kentucky Derby. I’m sure if we win it once we’ll to pick up one additional horse a week,” he said. “About nine want to win it again. I idolize guys like Bob Baffert and D. Wayne weeks later, I had 12 horses and I could see that this was going Lukas and what they’ve accomplished in their careers and are to work. I was recruiting horses and owners and there was a still accomplishing. These are the guys I look up to. I go on snowball effect. It just kept rolling and it’s still rolling.” Equibase and look up how many Grade I’s they’ve won and how He won his first graded stakes race in 2014 when Carve (First many Triple Crown races. Those are the goals I am after and Samurai) won the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. He chasing. Hopefully, someday we can get there.” believes a horse named Chocolate Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) was Cox is clearly among the fastest rising stars in the sport, but the first horse he trained who caused people to take notice of that was not always the case. what he could do. He broke through with a win in the 2015 GIII He grew up in Louisville and as soon as he was old enough, Fair Grounds H. went to work on the Churchill backstretch, winning his first race “I claimed that horse for $40,000 and he wound up winning in 2004 when he was just 24. But for several years, he wasn’t four graded stakes races over the next year, year and a half,” making any headway toward achieving his lofty goals. In 2009, Cox said. “I think people really took notice of that. They started training mainly claimers, he won just 18 races. thinking this guy can win graded races. After that, we started A year later, he got what he considered at the time to be the getting a little better quality of horse.” biggest break of his career. Rich and Karen Papiese, who operate He won seven graded stakes in 2016 and seven more in 2017. Midwest Thoroughbreds, hired him. With the powerful Midwest This year, he has taken everything to another level. Through outfit behind him, he won 54 races in 2012 and had a 30% win Aug. 7, he had won 13 graded stakes and 28 overall. rate. Yet, entering this year, he had never won a Grade I stakes. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the Papieses, who Monomoy Girl took care of that, beginning her streak of Grade I fired him, leaving Cox with three horses. They did him a favor. wins in the Apr. 7 Ashland at Keeneland. She, more than any Midwest is a claiming outfit and Cox had been typecast as a horse he has ever trained, has put Cox into the spotlight. claiming trainer. With his dismissal, he was able to reinvent Cont. p4 himself. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 8 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • AUGUST 21, 2018 “She’s the best thing we’ve ever had so far as a quality Grade I chance. She was also a $100,000 purchase and wasn’t by Tapit filly,” he said. “Day in, day out, she’s been very good to us. She’s or someone like that, so there was less pressure to give her to done a lot for our business. People take notice when you’re able someone like a Todd Pletcher.” to win Grade Is with quality horses. Monomoy Girl has won four Grade Hopefully, it’s something that will last Is, but Cox won’t be happy until she and continue a while.” wins five.