Brad H. Cox

Last updated
Brad H. Cox
Occupation Trainer
Born (1980-03-03) March 3, 1980 (age 44)
Louisville, Kentucky
Career wins2,100 (ongoing) [1]
Major racing wins
Ashland Stakes (2018)
Kentucky Oaks (2018, 2020)
Acorn Stakes (2018)
Coaching Club American Oaks (2018, 2023)
Highlander Stakes (2017, 2018)
Clark Handicap (2018)
Alcibiades Stakes (2019)
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (2019)
Breeders' Futurity (2020)
La Troienne Stakes (2020, 2021)
Pegasus World Cup (2021)
Blue Grass Stakes (2021)
Travers Stakes (2021)
Arlington Million (2023)
U.S. Triple Crown wins:
Breeders' Cup wins:
Racing awards
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer (2020, 2021)
Significant horses
Monomoy Girl, British Idiom, Covfefe, Essential Quality, Knicks Go, Shedaresthedevil

Brad H. Cox (born March 3, 1980) is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer whose most notable horses include multiple Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl, Knicks Go, Covfefe, Mandaloun, and Essential Quality. He had four winners at the 2020 Breeders' Cup, helping Cox earn the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer that year. In 2021, he won that title again after Essential Quality won the Belmont Stakes and Knicks Go won the Breeders' Cup Classic; Mandaloun would later be awarded that year's Kentucky Derby.

Contents

Background

Cox was born in Louisville, Kentucky on March 30, 1980, [2] the son of Jerry and Mary Cox. He grew up just two blocks away from Churchill Downs [3] and his father began taking him to the track when he was four or five. Cox began studying the Daily Racing Form when he was twelve. "I felt I knew a lot about what it meant. I was intrigued by the trainers, the jockeys, the past performances themselves." [4]

He attended Iroquois High School and got his first job as a hot walker at thirteen, then worked as a groom for trainers Burt Kessinger and Jimmy Baker. He was then an assistant trainer to Dallas Stewart for five years [2] [3] before starting his own stable at age 24. [4]

He is currently married to Livia Frazar, a racetrack veterinarian, who met him in 2011. The two have a son Brodie. Two sons from his first marriage, Blake and Bryson, work with him as assistants/barn foremen. [5]

Racing career

Cox earned his first career win on December 4, 2004, with One Lucky Storm at Turfway Park. In 2005, Tappin for Gold gave him his first stakes win. He had fairly limited success in the following years, mainly in the claiming ranks, and his stable shrank at one point to just two or three horses. However, he slowly built up his client base, which came to include members of the Dubai royal family, Juddmonte Farms and Spendthrift Farm. [2] "It was an amazing roller-coaster ride to get to the point we are now," said Cox in January 2021. "It's still a roller-coaster ride, but we have the numbers that we’re able to keep things going." [4]

Cox earned his first graded stakes win in 2014 with Carve in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. He noted that his early graded stakes winners were from the claiming ranks. "We had to develop them or improve them," he said, "whether it was surface change or something along the way that got them in good form. That's how it really got kicked off, our ability to show we could win at the graded-stakes level. I think that's when the larger outfits, people with homebreds with nice pedigrees, start calling you and you get horses out of the sale as well." [5]

Cox's reputation as an elite trainer began when Monomoy Girl joined his stable in 2017. She gave Cox his first Grade I win in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in 2018 and then became his first Eclipse Award winner after winning the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff. [1] Cox recorded his 1,000th win on November 18, 2018, with Play On at Fair Grounds. [6]

In 2019, Cox trained two more Eclipse Award winners, Covfefe and British Idiom, whose campaigns were highlighted by wins in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and Juvenile Fillies respectively. Those wins temporarily increased Cox to fourth place on the 2019 list of leading trainers by money earned. [7] He finished the year ranked fifth by earnings and fourth by number of wins. [1]

After missing her 2019 campaign due to illness, Monomoy Girl returned in 2020 to win another Eclipse Award. Cox was the leading trainer at Keeneland's 2020 Fall Meet, then had a record-tying four winners at the 2020 Breeders' Cup: Monomoy Girl in the Distaff, Essential Quality in the Juvenile, Knicks Go in the Dirt Mile and Aunt Pearl in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. [1] [2] [5] Cox was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer of 2020 [8] and again in 2021. [9]

In 2021, Cox trained two Triple Crown race winners, Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun and Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality, [10] and American Horse of the Year Knicks Go, who won five of his seven starts on the year including the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breeders' Cup</span> Grade I Thoroughbred horse racing

The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. All sites have been in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Velazquez</span> Puerto Rican jockey

John R. Velazquez is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both years was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, rode his 5,000th winner in 2013, and became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport in 2014.

Willie Martinez is a jockey in North American Thoroughbred horse racing. Martinez is known in the business as "Chillie Willie," because of his "chill" demeanor in riding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florent Geroux</span> French jockey

Florent Geroux is a jockey who has earned over 1,700 wins in American thoroughbred horse racing, including the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic on Gun Runner, two Breeders' Cup Distaff wins with Monomoy Girl, and the 2021 Kentucky Derby on Mandaloun.

Sol Kumin is an American business leader, Thoroughbred racehorse owner and philanthropist. In May 2018, he became the first owner since 1952 to have both a Kentucky Oaks and a Kentucky Derby winner in the same weekend. He was a co-owner of Justify; winner of the Triple Crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monomoy Girl</span> American Thoroughbred racehorse

Monomoy Girl is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2018 and Champion Older Female Horse of 2020. She showed very promising form as a juvenile in 2017 when she won her first three races before being narrowly beaten in the Golden Rod Stakes. In the following spring, she took the Rachel Alexandra Stakes and the Ashland Stakes before winning the Kentucky Oaks, the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. She followed this up with wins in the Acorn Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks, but was disqualified to second for interference in the Cotillion Stakes. She then rebounded to win the Breeders' Cup Distaff while facing older horses for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonder Gadot</span> Canadian racehorse

Wonder Gadot is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, in 2018. As a two-year-old, she was named the Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly after winning the Mazarine and Demoiselle Stakes. At age three, in addition to beating the colts twice in Canada, she was second in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks to Monomoy Girl. She was named the 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Breeders' Cup</span> Horse race

The 2018 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 35th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The 14 races, all but one of which were Grade I, took place on November 2 and 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The races were telecast by NBCSN on Friday and early Saturday, and by NBC later on Saturday. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North American racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December. The event typically determines champions in many of the Eclipse Award divisions, although it was missing the eventual Horse of the Year, Triple Crown champion Justify, who was retired in July.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Into Mischief</span> American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire

Into Mischief is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. During his racing career, he won three of six starts including the CashCall Futurity. Since his retirement, he has developed into an outstanding sire, leading the North American sire list in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. His offspring include Authentic, Mandaloun, Life Is Good and Covfefe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Breeders' Cup</span> Horse race

The 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 37th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The 14 races, all but one of which were Grade I, took place on November 6 and 7 at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky. The races were telecast by NBCSN on Friday and early Saturday, and by NBC later on Saturday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Skydiver</span> American thoroughbred racehorse

Swiss Skydiver is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2020 Preakness Stakes, only the sixth filly to win the second leg of the Triple Crown. She also won the 2020 Santa Anita Oaks, 2020 Alabama Stakes, and 2021 Beholder Mile.

Covfefe is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Eclipse Awards in 2019 as the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and American Champion Female Sprint Horse. She won five of six starts that year including the Test Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. She also broke the Pimlico track record for six furlongs by over a second in the Miss Preakness.

Essential Quality is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, and the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He was named the 2020 Champion Two-Year-Old and the 2021 Champion Three-Year-Old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Saez</span> American-Panamanian jockey

Luis Saez in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Saez rode Maximum Security to finish first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was subsequently disqualified due to interference. The two later won the world's richest race, the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup, in 2020. Saez won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2020 and first American Classic in 2021, both with champion Essential Quality.

Shedaresthedevil is an American thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. She also won the Honeybee Stakes and Indiana Oaks at age three, the Azeri and La Troienne Stakes at age four, and the Fleur de Lis Stakes at age five.

Hot Rod Charlie is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Pennsylvania Derby and Louisiana Derby. He also came second in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2021 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and fourth in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic. He was voted the winner of the 2021 Secretariat Vox Populi Award.

Mandaloun is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was awarded 1st place in the 2021 Kentucky Derby after the disqualification of the original winner Medina Spirit. He followed this with wins in both the Pegasus Stakes and Haskell Stakes. He also won the 2021 Risen Star Stakes, and the 2022 Louisiana Stakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knicks Go</span> American racehorse

Knicks Go is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2021 American Horse of the Year after winning five of seven starts, including the Breeders' Cup Classic, Whitney Stakes and Pegasus World Cup. The year before he won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He is the sixth horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races.

The 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 38th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program, and the fourth race in the so-called Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing in North America. It was run on November 6, 2021 at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. It proved decisive in American Horse of the Year voting as it featured the top-ranked older horse Knicks Go and the leading three-year-olds, Essential Quality and Medina Spirit. The race was won by Knicks Go.

Society is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who has won multiple graded stakes events as a three-year-old in 2022 including the Grade I Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Profile of Brad Cox". Equibase. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Brad Cox | Keeneland". keeneland.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Trainer Profile: Brad Cox". Trainer Magazine. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Sullivan, Tim. "Louisville native and rising trainer Brad Cox hits stride, targets first Kentucky Derby". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "'This Is All He Thinks About': Brad Cox's Rise To Success Based On Developing Horses". Paulick Report. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Trainer Brad Cox gets win number 1,000". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "British Idiom, Covfefe give Cox two more champions". Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Eclipse Award an amazing accomplishment for Cox". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  9. ↑ King, Byron (10 February 2022). "Cox Repeats as Outstanding Trainer Last year he set a single-season record for earnings by a North American trainer". Bloodhorse.com. Bloodhorse. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  10. ↑ Drape, Joe (2022-02-21). "Medina Spirit Stripped of 2021 Kentucky Derby Win". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.