Multiple Oaklawn winner Leofric secures 1st graded win

One of Oaklawn Park’s most successful horses the last two years helped one of Oaklawn’s most successful trainers move closer to a career milestone.

Leofric edged Prime Attraction by a head in the Grade 2 $200,000 Fayette Stakes Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., to give Brad Cox his 990th career victory, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. Cow was Oaklawn’s fourth-leading trainer in 2018.

Leofric is a four-time winner in Hot Springs, breaking his maiden and winning two allowance races in 2017 and another allowance race in 2018. His only loss at Oaklawn is a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 $500,000 Razorback Handicap for older horses on Feb. 19.

“He’s been good to us,” Cox said this week.

Leofric is among about a dozen horses Cox has for prominent Arkansas automobile dealer Steve Landers, who is also a member of the Arkansas Racing Commission. Cox began training for Landers late in the 2015 Oaklawn meeting and the partnership has continued to flourish, with Leofric, who was exiting a strong third-place finish in the Grade 1 $750,000 Woodward Stakes on Sept. 1 at Saratoga Race Course in New York, representing their high-water mark to date.

Landers and Cox have also campaigned stakes winners Illussion Artist, Big Changes and Pioneer Spirit and Dazzling Gem, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 $1 million Arkansas Derby in 2016 at Oaklawn. Big Changes broke his maiden in 2016 at Oaklawn and is 5 for 5 this year, including three stakes. Illussion Artist gave Landers his first Oaklawn stakes victory ($150,000 Carousel in 2017). Leofric gave Landers his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 3 $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s on Aug. 4 at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia.

“It’s going good,” Cox said. “He’s been patient and rewarded with some stakes wins.”

In the Fayette, Leofric ($5.40) ran 1 1/8 miles over a muddy track in 1:49.87 under Florent Geroux. A 5-year-old son of Candy Ride, Leofric is 7 for 13 overall with earnings of $650,340.

Cox said Leofric will be considered

for the Grade 1 $500,000 Clark Handicap on Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs and plans to run the horse next year at Oaklawn.

The Fayette marked Cox’s career-high 33rd stakes victory this year, a figure that is tied for fifth nationally, according to Equibase. Cox, 38, ranks sixth nationally in purse earnings with $12,002,639 and fourth in victories at 210. Both marks are career highs.

Cox now has 1,000 career victories in his crosshair. He will saddle four horses in the Breeders’ Cup Saturday at Churchill Downs, including Monomoy Girl, the morning line favorite for the Distaff and Oaklawn allowance winner Golden Mischief in the Filly & Mare Sprint.

“It’s been a good run,” said Cox, who has 159 career victories at Oaklawn. “Very proud of the team we have. That’s what it’s all about – get a good team in place. That’s what we have.”

Cox had to rebuild his stable from scratch twice the last few years after parting with Chicago-based Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., the country’s winningest owner in 2010-15. Midwest was Oaklawn’s leading owner in

2011, 2012 and 2013.

Cox saddled his first winner in

2004 and his yearly victory totals have increased each year since he had 42 in 2013. He ranked eighth nationally last year with 204.

“To be honest with you, I can remember winning No. 100, I can remember winning No. 300, and, honestly, I don’t remember No. 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 or 900,” Cox said. “It did seem liked it snowballed or got really good, really quick.”

All 159 of Cox’s Oaklawn victories, according to Equibase, have come since 2009, including 27 this year. He has approximately 140 horses in training.

Edgar Morales, Oaklawn’s leading apprentice jockey in 2018, won nine races at the recently completed Keeneland fall meet to finish tied for sixth in the standings.

Morales, 20, won 17 races this year at Oaklawn to rank 11th in the standings. His total was the highest for an apprentice at Oaklawn since 2010.

Unbeaten 3-year-old Exclamation Point, 2 for 2 at the 2018 Oaklawn meeting, has resumed light training at a Kentucky training center and could rejoin Cox’s stable in the “near future,” the trainer said Monday afternoon.

Exclamation Point has not raced since an April 12 allowance victory at Keeneland due to a minor leg problem. A half-brother to champion and 2017 Arkansas Derby winner Classic Empire, Exclamation Point won his first two career starts at Oaklawn.

“All of the reports are he’s doing well and handling what they’re throwing at him,” Cox said.

Exclamation Point races for Staton Flurry, of Hot Springs, and the colt’s breeders, Steve and Brandi Nicholson.