Cox Ready to Win a Derby the Way He Always Imagined

Brad Cox is waxing poetic about what the Kentucky Derby (G1) means to him as a Louisville native who grew up just a few blocks behind the Churchill Downs backside, south of the seven-furlong chute. He talks about how there's nothing like it, both for the race itself and the spectacle that surrounds it. 

"It's been a dream of mine to win it and I look forward to doing it someday."

Wait, what? A reporter reminds Cox that he HAS won the Kentucky Derby! In fact, it was just two years ago, remember? The trainer smiles.

"I have," Cox says, "but not the way I ever expected to win it."

The 43-year-old sort of knows what it's like to win what he says is the greatest race in America. But getting kissed up via disqualification nine months after the party's over is not how any trainer grows up imagining it happening, if they dare to at all. 

Cox is immensely proud of his first Derby winner, Mandaloun  , who was second across the wire in the 2021 Derby but elevated to first when Medina Spirit  was disqualified for a raceday medication violation. It took until February 2022, after multiple investigations and legal challenges, for Churchill Downs to officially recognize the new result. 

Now, though, Cox wants to win one the old-fashioned way, with the rush from watching your horse in front at the finish, not to mention the celebration, the infield winner's circle, the official photo, the press conference, the champagne toast at the Derby Museum, the "Today" show interview, the Preakness hype, the Triple Crown dream, and everything else.

"I would definitely like to cross the line first and take a trip to the infield and have a good weekend," he says.

If it's possible for the Derby to mean more to any one trainer than the next, it might mean more to Cox and Dale Romans, the two that are from the neighborhood around Churchill Downs. In Cox's case, his childhood home was on Evelyn Ave., in the Oakdale section. 

"It was a good middle-class neighborhood," he says. "You could ride your bike around with your buddies and didn't feel threatened or scared. I don't really know how it is now but it was a good neighborhood to grow up in."

Cox first visited Churchill Downs with his father, who was not connected to racing but occasionally dropped by to bet $2 on whatever horse Pat Day was riding. Brad Cox's first Derby in person was Lil E. Tee in 1992. 

In high school, Cox was an athlete but as his dreams of advancing in team sports dimmed, a new dream took hold.  

"I played baseball and basketball and just wasn't as good as I thought I was, or wasn't going to be as good as I was hoping," he says. "I thought, maybe I'll try to make a living in the horse business."

Has he ever.

Cox already has more than 2,000 wins. In addition to the Derby, his horses have won a Belmont Stakes (G1), a Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), and nine Breeders' Cup races, including a Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). He's 18th on the all-time win list at Churchill Downs. 

Cox has four chances in the 20-horse Derby field. Angel of Empire , winner of the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Risen Star Stakes (G2), is the most highly regarded of the quartet.

"He's got to step up and run the race of his life," Cox said. "The Arkansas Derby was a great run but I do think he needs to move forward off that. I think he will. I love what I've seen from him in the mornings and he's setting up for a big effort."

Verifying  ran what would have been a winning race in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) most years but was outfinished by Tapit Trice . The top two were more than five lengths clear of the rest of the field.

"He's had two works here and they have been very, very good," Cox said. "Tyler (Gaffalione) was aboard him for both of them. He loved what he felt from him and saw from him. I loved what I saw from him. I think he's going to be set up for a big run."

Hit Show , the Withers (G3) winner and Wood Memorial (G2) runner-up, and Jace's Road , third in the Louisiana Derby (G2), are longshots. But then, so was Mandaloun.