Nash was unstoppable. (Coady Photography/Renee Torbit)
Trainer Cox, Jockey Geroux double up on stakes for Godolphin as First Mission scores G3 Essex H,
By Robert Yates
They came, they saw and, boy, did they ever conquer.
Godolphin, a worldwide breeding/racing juggernaut, two-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Brad Cox and nationally prominent jockey Florent Geroux teamed to sweep Oaklawn’s stakes doubleheader Saturday with even-money favorites.
Roughly a half-hour after Nash dominated the one-mile $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for 3-year-olds, First Mission delivered an emphatic encore in the nine-furlong $600,000 G3-Essex Handicap for older horses.
“Great trip from the outside. (Nash) broke good and I tried to establish a good position. Looked like there wasn’t a crazy amount of speed. And from the outside (post 8), I was able to get over pretty easily without asking him too much. From there, at the three-eighths pole, I could see everybody trying to ask their horses and from there he (First Mission) was just cruising. He won very easily,” remarked Geroux.
The Essex was a bounce-back performance for First Mission ($4.20), who was exiting a disappointing ninth-place finish in his 4-year-old debut, the $3 million G1-Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park. A Grade 3 winner last year, First Mission was never involved in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus and beaten 20 ½ lengths.
In the Essex, previously run at 1 1/16 miles, First Mission was a forward factor from the start and stalked front-running Great Escape on the outside before taking command on the second turn. First Mission, who finished five lengths ahead of War Campaign, ran the distance in a meet-best 1:49.76 over a fast track.
First Mission, a son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, won for the fourth time in seven starts to increase his career earnings to $822,110.
“I think we know what (First Mission) wants, a little bit shorter in distance, a middle distance. I would say a flat mile, seven-eighths. But a flat mile would hit him right between the eyes for what he wants. But since he was so impressive at Churchill going a mile and a sixteenth as a 2-year-old, you want to chase the (Kentucky) Derby,” Geroux recounted about the run in the Essex.
“It’s very understandable. We tried a few times and tackled some very good horses down there in Louisiana. So, now a little bit of class relief, better distance for him, and he got the job done today.”
The Hot Springs was just as easy for Triple Crown nominee Nash ($4), who made a sweeping four-wide move on the second turn enroute to a 5 ½-length victory over Carbone. Nash’s winning time over a fast track was 1:38.49.
Nash had competed against some of the country’s leading Kentucky Derby prospects this winter at the Fair Grounds. The son of Medaglia d’Oro was exiting a runner-up finish behind unbeaten Tuscan Sky in a first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 17.
The Hot Springs was Nash’s first career stakes victory and second in six starts overall. He has $264,500 in career earnings. Racing resumes Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (CDT), shortly after the post-position for next Saturday’s $1.5 million G1-Arkansas Derby and $750,000 G2-Fantasy Stakes.
