INDIANTOWN, Fla. - Hours before he won his second straight Florida Derby, trainer Brad Cox won his first Gulfstream Park Oaks. Now, he not only seems well armed to try and win a second Kentucky Derby, Cox has plenty of ammunition to try and win a fourth Kentucky Oaks.
Prom Queen made it 2 for 2 around two turns with her 2 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, a victory that gave the daughter of Quality Road all the qualifying points (100) she’ll need to run in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1. Prom Queen, owned and bred by Gary and Mary West, earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure after running 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.40.
Prom Queen finished second to She Be Smooth in a Jan. 23 maiden race and that horse came back to win the Davona Dale impressively. In Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Oaks, She Be Smooth finished third, 6 1/2 lengths behind Prom Queen.
“I expected her to run big, she did, she responded well, obviously a true two-turn horse,” Cox said of Prom Queen. “Her first run was good, she probably needed the race a little bit, got a little lost turning for home. Second run, she put it all together and she was training like she was going to move forward. I thought the spacing from the maiden run to yesterday was the right amount of time for her and she’ll have five weeks to the Oaks.”
Cox reiterated his belief that Prom Queen should be better at 1 1/8 miles, the Kentucky Oaks distance.
“I think so. As long as she can get into that one good rhythm,” Cox said. “Obviously, Javier [Castellano] did a great job with her, he allows her to get into a good, comfortable rhythm and can sustain that for the nine furlongs.”
Cox joined Woody Stephens (Swale and Miss Oceana in 1984) and Todd Pletcher (Constitution and In Tune in 2014) as trainers to win the Florida Derby and the Gulfstream Park Oaks (previously known as the Bonnie Miss) in the same year.
Cox, who won the Kentucky Oaks three times including last year with Good Cheer, also has Life of Joy, winner of the March 21 Fair Grounds Oaks, pointing to the Kentucky Oaks. He also runs Paradise, winner of the Busher Stakes, in next Saturday’s Grade 3 Gazelle.
My Miss Mo, off second-place finishes in the Davona Dale and Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Oaks for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., has enough qualifying points to run in the Kentucky Oaks should her connections want to run.
Trainer Todd Pletcher felt She Be Smooth was compromised by a slow pace when third in the Gulfstream Park Oaks and he is likely to move forward with the filly, who is owned and bred by Calumet Farm.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.