Idiomatic with rider Katie Tolbert in the saddle, gallops on the track at Monmouth Park Friday morning. (Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)
Eclipse Award Winner Idiomatic Brings Star Power to Saturday’s Molly Pitcher Stakes
Cox says Timberlake primed for a big effort in NYRA Bets Haskell
By Lynne Snierson/Monmouth Park Publicity Staff
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Timberlake, who takes on a talented field of sophomores on Saturday in the $1 million, Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, may share his name with the world famous “Prince of Pop” Justin Timberlake. But Idiomatic, set to go in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes on the Haskell undercard, is the headliner in the Brad Cox barn these days.
“She is a superstar,” assistant trainer Katie Tolbert said of the reigning champion Older Dirt Female and one of the top three finalists for 2023 Horse of the Year. “She is awesome. We love her.”
There’s a lot to love about Juddmonte’s homebred 5-year-old daughter of Curlin. An earner of $3,176,840 and the winner of 10 of 14 outings (with two seconds and two thirds), she is a four-time Grade 1 winner. Last year she won eight of nine starts, including three straight top-level races, and capped her season with a Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff crown and the Eclipse Award.
This year she picked up right where she left off, taking the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard in her comeback from a break, and then missing by a head in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at 1 1/8 miles on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
On Saturday, Idiomatic takes on six other fillies and mares in the $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
“The decision to run in this race was that I wanted a race between the Ogden Phipps and the Personal Ensign (a Grade 1 at Saratoga on Aug. 23), and if the right race presented itself, we’d go for it,” said Cox, a two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer. “I wanted to bring her back home to Churchill Downs and train her.
“I love the way she’s trained. She’s had three really nice works since the Ogden Phipps and I thought this would be the perfect race. This is something I thought of the morning after the Ogden Phipps. Everything’s moved well so far.”
The plan has worked to perfection before. In 2019 Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen brought Midnight Bisou here after her victory in the Ogden Phipps and she won the Molly Pitcher before going forward to win the Personal Ensign. The three graded stakes scores catapulted her to an Eclipse Award as the top Older Dirt Female that year.
“It did work out for Midnight Bisou,” said Tolbert. “Hopefully, it will for us, too. “
Idiomatic and Timberlake arrived at Monmouth on Thursday morning with the rest of the Cox contingent and quickly settled into their new surroundings.
Timberlake, owned by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, has been idle since his fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 30. Nonetheless, his connections are convinced the Grade 1 winner is ready to take on the tough field that includes the Belmont Stakes’ top two finishers, Dornoch and Mindframe, respectively.
Fierceness, winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby and the 2023 champion 2-Year-Old Male, is also entered.
“As a 2-year-old he was rowdy and rambunctious. He wasn’t difficult but he was on his toes all the time,” Tolbert said of Timberlake, who won the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont last year. “He had a little time off over the winter and spring and since he’s come back, he’s really grown up a lot.
“I still see the same fire and desire in him. He’s been breezing great. He seems like he’s come back really well, maybe better than he was before. We’re really happy with what we’re seeing and we’re looking forward to a great day.”
Timberlake, a son of Into Mischief, will break from Post 4 under regular rider Flavien Prat. The jockey and trainer are looking to extend their Monmouth Park luck with the maternal grandson of 2010 Haskell and Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky.
In three previous attempts Prat and Cox have won the Haskell twice, with Mandaloun in 2021 and track and stakes record setter Cyberknife in 2022.
The Haskell is a “Win and You’re In” for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2. At this point in the season the race for the 3-Year-Old Male divisional championship honors is wide open.
“This is a big race. There’s a lot of extra emphasis this year. This is an important race to win,” said Tolbert. “We’ve had a lot of good races here in the Haskell and hopefully we’ll have another one.”
