Cox Is Best Trainer In Game Today…Bar and Barn None…Congrats Young Man…

There is no doubt and really no reason to debate it, either publicly or privately. The facts are what they are.

Brad Cox is the best horse trainer in the Thoroughbred industry today. Period.

Got a good horse? Get a call into Cox to see if the young man has a stall or two, somewhere in the United States of America.

On Saturday, Cox’s Further Ado stamped his ticket to this year’s Kentucky Derby with an overpowering and massive win in the G1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. At the wire, Further Ado was listed as 11 lengths in front. Didn’t matter. It could have been 21. After all, the 3YO son of the great Gun Runner has already won a race at Keeneland by 20 lengths.

It was a pronouncement. It was an announcement. It was a declaration.

Further Ado is coming after the Kentucky Derby.

Further Ado is pretty damn good. And, so is the man who got him ready for that race off a narrow defeat in the G3 Tampa Bay Derby, which just may become a key race going into this year’s Kentucky Derby.

But don’t spend all your time looking for Further Ado at the Cox barn on the backside of Churchill Downs.

Just a few stalls away is Commandment, the winner of the G1 Florida Derby. He proved that he can run a distance of ground with expertise by winning the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park a few weeks ago. He came back to stamp his ticket to the Kentucky Derby with a rallying, stretching, gut-wrenching and determination in full motion win over The Puma in the Florida Derby.

In its’ own way, that race was…

It was a pronouncement. It was an announcement. It was a declaration.

Commandment is coming after the Kentucky Derby, too.

Commandment is pretty damn good. And, so too is the man who got him ready for that race, as well.

Yet…if you get the chance to stroll the backside of Churchill Downs in the coming days before the Derby, and it is a treat that every racing fan should attempt to do at least once in their life, then don’t spend all of your time looking for and at Further Ado and Commandment at the Cox barn.

There’s another one just a few stalls way that will catch your attention, as well.

Fulleffort, winner of the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park at the end of March, is there, too. He proved that he can run with some pizzaz and some finishing kick with this win over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. If you examine his race before, in the John Battaglia Stakes, Fulleffort probably should have won that one, too, despite the far outside post and a difficult wide trip throughout the race.

Yet, in the Jeff Ruby, there was absolutely no doubt as to who the best horse was in the race and throughout the race, as he snaked his way through the crowded field and put the respected group way as if they were standing still.

In its’ own way, that race was…

It was a pronouncement. It was an announcement. It was a declaration.

In our interview with Brad Cox last week, he said that he went into that race expecting to win, and that the horse just may become the surprise horse of 2026.

Just a year ago, Cox had a grey that came out of the Jeff Ruby by the name of Final Gambit. He entered the Tapeta winner in the Kentucky Derby, with many a snickers from the crowd. The horse ran a determined third behind two of the sports’ best athletes in the last decade — Sovereignty and Journalism.

This year, if you dig a little deeper in the well, I think you will find that Cox believes that Fulleffort may just be even better than his Final Gambit a year ago.

Without even getting into the fillies that Cox has and is getting ready for the Kentucky Oaks, how many trainers today can say they have three horses now getting final preparations for the Kentucky Derby?

How many?

I’ll answer the rhetorical question for you.

None.

It takes a top talent to get these horses ready to do what they have done. No question. Cox has that talent.

But it also takes a helluva manager to pathway these athletes through the prep races to get the best shot at obtaining the necessary points to get into the starting gate on that magical First Saturday in May. No question it is critical. And, Cox has done that job expertly, as well.

Commandment went the Florida route.

Further Ado was pointed to Keeneland — where he was a single superstar.

Fulleffort stayed in Kentucky and worked his way through the Jeff Ruby.

All 3 were successful in their preparations and races, no doubt, but all three were also spotted in race where they could obtain the points.

Cox has done it all.

So far.

Cox is the best.

Now, we shall see if his horses are on May 2.

I would not bet against them.

(Trainer Todd Pletcher / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

Pletcher Needs to Take a Lesson From the Cox Barn…Pletcher Really Put a Top Contender Out of This Derby:

I know people talk about Todd Pletcher all the time and what a great manager of horse flesh he is.

History has shown that he can win big races. No doubt. Record is what the record is. He won the Kentucky Derby in 2010 with Super Saver and came back seven years later to capture “The Roses” with Always Dreaming in 2017. Pletcher has won the Belmont Stakes four times, as well. Not a bad resume. Hall of Fame worthy, which is why he is already in the Hall of Fame.

But?

History also has shown that he has a hard time getting some of his top horses to the Kentucky Derby in good order, and, actually, into the starting gate on the day of the biggest race of the year, too.

Remember Forte, the Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched the morning of the race when the state veterinarian discovered a faulty foot? That was in 2023.

Remember Grande, who was scratched before the Kentucky Derby by the state veterinarians found a bruised foot and cracked heal? That was in 2025.

Remember the great Uncle Mo, who was scratched the day before the Kentucky Derby when it was found that the horse was suffering from a gastrointestinal infection? That was 2011.

This year, you can add to that list. Pletcher will have a horse that should be in the starting gate on Derby Day, but the 3YO by the name of Nearly will probably be sitting in a stall somewhere else. Sadly.

After winning three straight races and putting himself at the top of this year’s 3YO crop, Pletcher decided to skip the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and every other possible prep to just sit and train up to the G1 Florida Derby.

Could have gone to Louisiana for that Derby. Nope.

Could have followed his stablemate Rampage to Oaklawn Park for the Arkansas Derby. Nope.

Could have waited for the G1 Toyota Blue Grass at Keeneland, too. Would have been the best threat to Further Ado in that race, to be sure. Nope.

Pletcher put Centennial Farms pride and joy in the G1 Florida Derby against the likes of The Puma, who was coming off an impressive win in the Tampa Bay Derby; against the likes of Chief Wallabee, who was coming off a tremendous 2nd in the Fountain of Youth; against the likes of Commandment, who proved he could run two turns with proficiency by winning the Fountain of Youth.

Without a doubt, Pletcher decided to run at home in the best, deepest, toughest prep of them all.

And…if you question that strategy…Pletcher chose this training strategy, too. Take a look:

The Puma ran in the Florida Derby off 21 days rest, from the Tampa Bay Derby.

Chief Wallabee ran in the Florida Derby off 30 days rest, from the Fountain of Youth.

Commandment ran in the Florida Derby off 30 days rest, from the Fountain of Youth.

Pletcher’s Nearly?

He ran in the Holy Bull on Jan. 31. Didn’t run again until the Florida Derby — and against the toughest and deepest field — off 56 days rest.

The simple truth is this. After making the lead in the stretch, Nearly came up short. He just simply came up short.

Nearly was passed by three horses — The Puma, Commandment and Chief Wallabee — in the deep stretch because he simply wasn’t as fit as the other three. Period.

Now, as we head into the final month before the Kentucky Derby, Nearly doesn’t nearly have the points to get into the Kentucky Derby.

Instead of going somewhere else to face a lighter field…

Instead of running a prep to add points in the Fountain of Youth…

Instead of running a prep to get fit enough to run in the Florida Derby…

Nearly and Centennial Farms will be benched.

Anyway you cut it, that is awful.

Nearly is one of the best 3YOs in this crop.

But he will not make the gate.

For that, Todd Pletcher deserves a good dose of “The Muck Pit.”

Period.

And, by the way, Brad Cox wouldn’t have made these mistakes. Maybe, he should be training Nearly, too.