HENDERSON, Ky. (Friday, July 21, 2017) — Horse owner Staton Flurry thought it was a good sign when
Ellis Park bugler Bret Birkhead started playing “Let It Snow†before the post parade. Flurry, for obvious reasons given his name, has a snowflake emblem on his black and white silks.
So on a steamy afternoon, that was jockey Corey Lanerie with a big snow flake on his chest as he guided The Gipper to victory in Friday’s $41,000 allowance feature. That capped a three-win day for Lanerie, the defending Ellis champion whose 13 victories this meet are four more than 2015 titlist Didiel Osorio.
Asked if wearing a snowflake made it cooler to ride, Lanerie responded, “Absolutely not. Winning does, though.â€
Or maybe the real sign of pending victory was that The Gipper was the 8-5 favorite in the field seven and, in addition to having Lanerie, is trained by the red-hot Brad Cox.
It was Cox’s eighth win out of his first 15 starters to not only top the standings in victories but also for purse earnings of $180,131. His win percentage slumped to 50 percent when Cox’s horse in the eighth race finished fourth.
“He’s rolling,†said Flurry, who has 10 horses in training. “He’s on top of his game everywhere right now.â€
Cox, a lifelong Louisvillian, might possess country’s fastest-growing stable ranks No. 9 in North America in both wins (106) and purse money ($4.7 million). Cox is on pace to blast by last year’s career-best season, when he won 151 races, with his horses accruing $6.28 million.
“He’s got the numbers and the ammunition and a good team behind him,†Lanerie said. “That builds success.â€
This is the first year that Cox has had a division actually stabled at Ellis Park, though he won the 2015 Ellis training title relying on horses from his Churchill Downs base.
“We had a lot of seconds and thirds at Churchill in the spring. Sometimes that equates to wins down the road,†said Cox, The Gipper’s second June 23 at Churchill Downs being a prime example.  “We got off to a good start. Hopefully we can keep it going at Ellis. Ellis has been good to us. We’ve had a good meet there the last couple of summers, and the money is good. We’re excited about what we’ve accomplished so far, and hopefully we’ll continue on.â€
Flurry, 27, is from Hot Springs, Ark., where his family’s businesses include owning the parking lots across the street from Oaklawn Park. He’s owned horses since he graduated from college, switching to Cox when his prior trainer didn’t return to Oaklawn for the winter.
The Gipper, a 3-year-old son of First Samurai, was making his first start on turf after having a win, four seconds and a third in nine starts on dirt. He stalked the early pace, getting through on the inside for a 1 1/4-length victory over Zipp On By and jockey Chris Landeros, who edged 12-1 Chargin Storm by a head. The Gipper covered 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in 1:02.79, paying $5.40 to win.
“Last time I rode him, he’d shown a lot of speed previous, so I didn’t ask him to leave there,†Lanerie said. “And he ended up getting too far back with me. So today I asked him a little bit. They out-footed him a little bit going into the turn, so he got a little breather. I tried to ease on out, found no room, so I had to duck back in. He was just the best horse today. Once he got room, it was over.â€
Cox also is 15-for-53 at Indiana Grand, including Tiger Moth winning her first stakes in last Saturday’s $100,000 Marie Hulman George. In that race, she defeated Big World, who two starts earlier captured Churchill Downs’ Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes. Tiger Moth’s next start could be Ellis Park’s $100,000, Grade 3 Groupie Doll on Aug. 13.
“It’s a Grade 3. We need to add that to her resume,†Cox said. “She’s already graded stakes-placed. Now we need to make her a graded winner. And in this region, that really is the only option we would have. That makes it attractive.â€
Cox finished a close second in the 2015 Mari Hulman George with Call Pat, who in her next start won the mile Groupie Doll, the first of three graded-stakes that mare would win.
“I kind of had that in the back of my mind,†Cox said. “I took that approach with Call Pat. Get her on a winning track, get her going at Indiana. And that race at Indiana was a really solid race. Normally you don’t run in listed (non-graded) $100,000 races and run into Grade 1 winners. That was a very competitive field, and she won by two lengths going away. It was very encouraging.â€
Laptops, scholarships for college students: Sunday is College Day at Ellis Park, sponsored by the Kentucky HBPA with an assist from Henderson County business. The Kentucky HBPA, which represents owners and trainers at the state’s five racetracks, will give away via drawing a Dell laptop and case to a full-time college student after every race. In addition, another college student will earn a $1,000 scholarship courtesy the Kentucky HBPA and Henderson County businesses.
