SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Between Monday and Tuesday, trainer Brad Cox had horses lined up to ship from Saratoga to five different tracks. After the weekend the Cox stable enjoyed, those vans were carrying even more precious cargo than perhaps anticipated.
Highland Falls, winner of Sunday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Immersive, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Spinaway were scheduled to ship Tuesday to Churchill Downs as they prepare for their fall campaigns, which Cox and owner Godolphin Racing hope includes starts at the Breeders’ Cup in November at Del Mar.
West Hollywood, winner of Friday’s Grade 3 Saranac left Monday for Belmont Park along with seven other horses expected to make their next starts at Aqueduct this fall. Cox also had vans lined up to take horses to Kentucky Downs, Ellis Park, and Turfway Park.
In total, Cox won five races from Friday to Sunday to end his Saratoga meet with 14 wins from 54 starters, the same number of wins he had last year. Cox also had 17 seconds at this summer’s meet, including runner-up finishes by champion Idiomatic in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign and Emery in the Grade 1 Test.
“We needed a week like that with all the seconds earlier in the meet,” Blake Cox, Brad’s son and assistant, said Monday morning.
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Initially, Highland Falls was scheduled to leave Saratoga on Monday, but Blake Cox said “he ran so hard we pushed it back a day.” Highland Falls, who dueled favorite Arthur’s Ride into defeat, ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.25 and was assigned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.
Highland Falls, a son of Breeders’ Cup winners Curlin and Round Pond, earned a fees-paid berth into the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar. Brad Cox said after the race he wasn’t sure if the horse would have another start between now and then. All the logical races available – the Grade 1, $1 million California Crown at Santa Anita, the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill, and the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodward at Aqueduct – are on Sept. 28.
“We’ve spaced his races because he was rolling along this winter,” Brad Cox said after the race. “We gave him a shot this winter in a Grade 1 [Santa Anita Handicap] going a mile and a quarter, and I don’t think he was quite seasoned enough.”
Highland Falls came out of that race to finish second to Skippylongstocking in the Oaklawn Handicap. He won the Grade 3 Blame at Churchill before he finished second to Tapit Trice in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 20.
Heading back to Churchill along with Highland Falls and Immersive, who will make her next start in the Grade 1 Alcibiades on Oct. 4 at Keeneland, were Idiomatic, pointing to the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 6, Emery, and Federal Judge, a winner of second-level allowance dirt sprint here Saturday. Federal Judge could be considered for the Grade 2 Phoenix on Oct. 4 at Keeneland.
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