Brad Cox insisted he wasn’t sitting around waiting or worrying about whether a disqualification of Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby winner would give him his first victory in a Triple Crown race.
Essential Quality captured the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to make sure Cox wouldn’t need to wait a second longer to be a Triple Crown race-winning trainer.
The striking gray colt who was bet down 6-5 as the favorite passed early leader Hot Rod Charlie around the final turn and charged ahead to the wire to win the 1 1/2-mile $1 million race in front of 11,238 mostly maskless fans at Belmont Park.
Cox could be a Derby champion with Mandaloun if Baffert-trained Medina Spirit is disqualified for failing a postrace drug test. Two samples have confirmed the presence of the steroid betamethasone, though Kentucky officials have not yet announced the horse’s disqualification — a move that would elevate Mandaloun to the top spot.
But Cox was able to enjoy this one with Essential Quality beating Hot Rod Charlie by 1 1/4 lengths. Essential Quality did so in 2:27.11, taking advantage of an unexpected hot pace set by Hot Rod Charlie.
