With Bob Baffert out of the picture, a Kentuckian is the new face of horse racing

Bob Baffert has been the face of Thoroughbred horse racing. The California-based trainer has the won the Kentucky Derby a record six times. He’s conditioned two Triple Crown winners. His white hair and dark sunglasses give him a signature look. He has been fun-loving and media-friendly.

Now, he’s gone. Not gone, per se, the 69-year-old Arizona native is still around. But Baffert is gone from the Kentucky Derby, at least for the next two years, thanks to a private property suspension levied by Churchill Downs after the trainer’s 2021 Derby winner, Medina Spirit, tested positive for a banned substance and was ultimately disqualified.

Thus, with Baffert banished, racing needs a new face, a fresh face, one ready to break on through from industry star to household name.

My nomination: Brad Cox.

It has to be Brad Cox. The 42-year-old Louisville native is the reigning Eclipse Award winner for best trainer for the second consecutive year. He won 30 graded stakes in 2020. His horses earned a record $31,001,731 in 2021. As of April 22, Cox trainees had won over 1,800 races and earned over $116 million.

Mandaloun, trained by Cox, was promoted from runner-up to winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby after Medina Spirit’s disqualification. His 2020 2-year-old champion Essential Quality won the 2021 Belmont Stakes. Cox’s four wins at the 2020 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland tied Richard Mandella’s record. Cox then won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar with Knicks Go.

At one point this Kentucky Derby prep season, it appeared Cox might not have a horse in the 148th running come May 7. Instead, the trainer has three entries with Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife, Lexington Stakes winner Tawny Port and Louisiana Derby runner-up Zozos.

Is Cox a quipster? No. Is he always in front of the cameras? No. He’s never worn a pumpkin on his head, a la Baffert, or posed with the Burger King mascot before a big race. Given Baffert’s rise and fall, especially the fall, that works in Cox’s favor, however. And he is definitely media-friendly, but in a hard-working, down-to-Earth way.

Did I mention Cox grew up in Louisville? Not only that, the son of Jerry and Mary Cox grew up on Evelyn Street, a few blocks from Churchill Downs. His father began taking him to the races when he was 4. He attended Fairdale and Iroquois High Schools before serving as an assistant to trainer Dallas Stewart for five years.

Cox took out his own license in 2004. He was far from an overnight success, however. He did not win his first graded stakes until 2014. He did not win his first training title until 2015 at Ellis Park. In fact, Cox has recounted the story of how, while going through a particularly rough stretch, he approached friend and fellow trainer Kenny McPeek and asked what he needed to do to be more successful.

“Get better horses,” McPeek said.

Cox has done that and then some. Monomoy Girl won the 2018 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, giving Cox his first Grade 1 win. The filly was a game-changer. That same year, Monomoy Girl continued on to win the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. After sitting out all of 2019, she returned to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland in 2020 for her 14th victory in 16 starts.

Meanwhile, Cox continues to get better horses with even better results. He won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with Covfefe and the BC Juvenile Fillies with British Idiom. He won the 2020 Kentucky Oaks with Shedaresthedevil and the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with Essential Quality.

In 2021 with Knicks Go, Cox won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, the Grade 1 Whitney, and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Knicks Go was then voted 2021 Horse of the Year.

The 2022 campaign has shown no signs of a Cox let-up. When the Breeders’ Cup held a press conference this month to begin the official countdown toward this November’s event at Keeneland, the trainer it invited to the podium was none other than Brad Cox.

He’s the new face of racing.

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 10:21 AM.

John Clay

Lexington Herald-Leader

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John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky, he covered UK football from 1987 until being named sports columnist in 2000. He has covered 20 Final Fours and 42 consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Support my work with a digital subscription