Brad Cox might not know the thrill of crossing the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby — yet — but he knows the feeling very well in the Kentucky Oaks.
Good Cheer won Friday’s 151st running of the Oaks by 2 1/4 lengths, making it the third time in the last seven years that Cox has been the winning trainer. The Louisville native won in 2018 with Monomoy Girl and 2020 with Shedaresthedevil.
But none were quite as dominant as Good Cheer, who is now undefeated in seven starts including a perfect 4-for-4 mark at Churchill Downs.
“I’m not sure what her ceiling is,” Cox said. “I’m not sure there is one.”
It sure didn’t look like it, as she broke wide coming off the second turn and simply outraced the pack, extending a length-and-a-half lead to win comfortably.
All of a sudden, it’s fair to ask, can Cox duplicate Kenny McPeek this year? McPeek became the first trainer since 1952 to sweep the Oaks and the Kentucky Derby in the same year.
“I think there’s a chance, I really do believe that,” Cox said. “I mean, this colt’s doing fantastic. He’ll run a big race (Saturday). I do believe that.”
If it feels like there are similarities between the two, it’s because there are. Both had fillies that were the better horse.
Thorpedo Anna won the Oaks last year with a dominating performance as the favorite. Winning the Derby seemed unlikely as Mystik Dan wasn’t considered the strongest horse in the field. He pulled it off with a near-perfect trip from the No. 3 post.
Guess who is in the No. 3 post on Saturday?
Cox’s horse, Final Gambit.
At 30-1 odds, he’s even more of a long shot than Mystik Dan (18-1) was last year. Cox is still looking for a chance to cross the finish line first. His Derby victory in 2021 with Mandaloun was only awarded after Medina Spirit failed a drug test and was disqualified.
Regardless of how that turns out Saturday, there’s currently plenty Good Cheer in Cox’s barn. She’s a superstar in the making having accepted and met every challenge to date, no matter the distance, as the competition has increased. Challenge might not even be the right word, as Good Cheer has won all of her races by a combined 44 3/4 lengths.
Cox acknowledged there were some skeptics of her ability to win the Oaks because of her speed figures that didn’t suggest there would be any separation. That other fillies in the field could run just as fast as her. Cox never wavered.
“The one thing I kept going back with her was she beat some really good fillies in Quietside here in the fall and some others,” Cox said. “And she puts them away. And that’s probably the most impressive thing. She always passed the eyeball test.”
Friday’s running of the Kentucky Oaks wasn’t about speed figures or best trips. It came down to which filly could handle all of the intangibles that no trainer or jockey could plan for in the days leading up to the race.
The rain, they could anticipate, as could they be prepared for running on a sloppy track. But no one imagined the severe weather delay that hit Churchill Downs around the ninth race at 4 p.m.
The video monitors throughout the stands and stationed near concessions all posted an ominous warning reiterated by a voice over the public announcement system telling them to seek shelter. It sent well-dressed spectators in their pink-clad outfits to the exits in droves like the outcome was decided in the final minutes of a basketball game.
Ultimately, it only led to about a 10-minute delay for the Oaks’ post at 6:03 p.m. That wasn’t enough time to damper Good Cheer’s run. Cox said while the track was wetter than he thought during the walk over to the paddock, Good Cheer won an allowance race over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs by 17 lengths in September, so it was not a concern.
“She’d handled track and performed very well on our off track here last September, so we were confident that she could handle it,” Cox said.
Good Cheer solidified her place in history. Now, Cox will see if Final Gambit can do the same.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
