Cox's Ridge (USA)
April 4, 1974 – January 14, 1998
Best Turn (USA) x Our Martha (USA), by Ballydonnell (GB)
Family 12-b
April 4, 1974 – January 14, 1998
Best Turn (USA) x Our Martha (USA), by Ballydonnell (GB)
Family 12-b
Cox's Ridge was a large, growthy horse who took some time to come to hand but proved to be quite a good runner once he matured. He was a good if inconsistent stallion who tended to pass on his own late-maturing tendencies.
Race record
28 starts, 16 wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds, US$667,172
1978:
1979:
Honors
Eclipse Award runner-up, American champion 3-year-old male (1977)
Assessments
Rated at 127 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1977, 9 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Seattle Slew.
Rated at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1978, 2 pounds below champion Seattle Slew.
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1979, 12 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Affirmed.
As an individual
A big-boned, rather coarse bay horse standing 16.3 hands, Cox's Ridge was backward as a youngster but improved markedly with maturity. He was somewhat upright in his front pasterns. He was game and consistent as a racer but seldom won by much, preferring to do just enough to get home in front, and was not an enthusiastic worker in the mornings; fortunately, he proved fairly easy to keep in condition. He typically came from off the pace in his races. He carried weight well.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Cox's Ridge sired 464 winners (57.9%) and 49 stakes winners (6.1%) from 802 named foals. He was something of a hit-or-miss sire who tended to get late-maturing stock.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
Notable progeny
Cardmania (USA), De Roche (USA), Dream Team (USA), Life's Magic (USA), Little Missouri (USA), Lost Mountain (USA), Pine Circle (USA), Scuffleburg (USA), Sultry Song (USA), Trapp Mountain (USA), Twilight Ridge (USA), Vanlandingham (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Cox's Ridge was bred by Samuel D. Hinkle. A US$35,000 yearling purchase from the 1975 Keeneland September sale, he was owned by Loblolly Stable. He was trained by Joseph Cantey. He stood his entire stud career at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. He was pensioned in August 1997 and was humanely destroyed January 14, 1998, after being found down in his stall and unable to rise.
Pedigree notes
Cox's Ridge is inbred 5x5x5 to English and French champion sire Pharos and 5x5 to 1925 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1937 English champion sire Solario. He is a half brother to juvenile stakes winner Freeo (by Tom Tulle) and to Simply Furious (by Delta Judge), dam of stakes winners Wicked Wave (by North Sea) and Green Adventure (by Green Dancer).
Cox's Ridge was produced from Our Martha, whose sire Ballydonnell set two track records in Canadian stakes races but was not a success at stud. She is a half sister to Miss Dogette (by The Doge), who produced the minor juvenile stakes winner Rail Rider (by Iron Warrior), and is out of Corday (by the stakes-placed Equipoise horse Carrier Pigeon), whose Bull Lea half sister Sanoj produced 1953 Fountain of Youth Handicap winner Tribe (by Apache) and Spicy (by Provocative), who won 17 stakes races during a 97-race career.
Corday and Sanoj were produced from the unraced Man o' War mare Galleon Gold, whose stakes-placed full sister Ship Ablaze is the dam of juvenile stakes winner Mystery Lady (by Bull Dog) and the second dam of two-time American champion sprinter Sheilas Reward. Produced from the Golden Broom mare Golden Haze, Galleon Gold is also a full sister to Big Beauty, dam of multiple stakes winner Minnigerode (by Sun Again) and second dam of 1957 Louisiana Derby winner Federal Hill, and to Red Haze, dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Eternal War (by Eternal Bull).
Fun facts
Last updated: January 15, 2021
Race record
28 starts, 16 wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds, US$667,172
- 1977: Won Discovery Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Stuyvesant Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Queens County Handicap (USA-G3, 9.5FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Minuteman Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Keystone Park)
- Won Governor's Cup Handicap (USA, 9FD, Bowie)
- Won Rosemont Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Delaware)
- 3rd Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
1978:
- Won Metropolitan Handicap (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
- Won Excelsior Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Razorback Handicap (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
- 3rd Californian Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
- 3rd Nassau County Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Belmont)
1979:
- Won Tom Fool Stakes (USA, 7FD, Belmont)
- 2nd Whitney Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Saratoga)
- 2nd Amory L. Haskell Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth; disqualified from first)
Honors
Eclipse Award runner-up, American champion 3-year-old male (1977)
Assessments
Rated at 127 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1977, 9 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Seattle Slew.
Rated at 130 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1978, 2 pounds below champion Seattle Slew.
Rated at 122 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1979, 12 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Affirmed.
As an individual
A big-boned, rather coarse bay horse standing 16.3 hands, Cox's Ridge was backward as a youngster but improved markedly with maturity. He was somewhat upright in his front pasterns. He was game and consistent as a racer but seldom won by much, preferring to do just enough to get home in front, and was not an enthusiastic worker in the mornings; fortunately, he proved fairly easy to keep in condition. He typically came from off the pace in his races. He carried weight well.
As a stallion
According to records kept by The Jockey Club, Cox's Ridge sired 464 winners (57.9%) and 49 stakes winners (6.1%) from 802 named foals. He was something of a hit-or-miss sire who tended to get late-maturing stock.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
- 4th on the American broodmare sire list in 2002
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):
- 2nd on the American general sire list in 1985; 5th in 1991; 8th in 1990 and 1992
- 4th on the American general sire list in 2002
Notable progeny
Cardmania (USA), De Roche (USA), Dream Team (USA), Life's Magic (USA), Little Missouri (USA), Lost Mountain (USA), Pine Circle (USA), Scuffleburg (USA), Sultry Song (USA), Trapp Mountain (USA), Twilight Ridge (USA), Vanlandingham (USA)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Cox's Ridge was bred by Samuel D. Hinkle. A US$35,000 yearling purchase from the 1975 Keeneland September sale, he was owned by Loblolly Stable. He was trained by Joseph Cantey. He stood his entire stud career at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. He was pensioned in August 1997 and was humanely destroyed January 14, 1998, after being found down in his stall and unable to rise.
Pedigree notes
Cox's Ridge is inbred 5x5x5 to English and French champion sire Pharos and 5x5 to 1925 St. Leger Stakes winner and 1937 English champion sire Solario. He is a half brother to juvenile stakes winner Freeo (by Tom Tulle) and to Simply Furious (by Delta Judge), dam of stakes winners Wicked Wave (by North Sea) and Green Adventure (by Green Dancer).
Cox's Ridge was produced from Our Martha, whose sire Ballydonnell set two track records in Canadian stakes races but was not a success at stud. She is a half sister to Miss Dogette (by The Doge), who produced the minor juvenile stakes winner Rail Rider (by Iron Warrior), and is out of Corday (by the stakes-placed Equipoise horse Carrier Pigeon), whose Bull Lea half sister Sanoj produced 1953 Fountain of Youth Handicap winner Tribe (by Apache) and Spicy (by Provocative), who won 17 stakes races during a 97-race career.
Corday and Sanoj were produced from the unraced Man o' War mare Galleon Gold, whose stakes-placed full sister Ship Ablaze is the dam of juvenile stakes winner Mystery Lady (by Bull Dog) and the second dam of two-time American champion sprinter Sheilas Reward. Produced from the Golden Broom mare Golden Haze, Galleon Gold is also a full sister to Big Beauty, dam of multiple stakes winner Minnigerode (by Sun Again) and second dam of 1957 Louisiana Derby winner Federal Hill, and to Red Haze, dam of multiple juvenile stakes winner Eternal War (by Eternal Bull).
Fun facts
- Cox's Ridge was named for an Arkansas landmark in the Ouachita River valley. As Loblolly Stable owner John Anthony Edwards described it, “It's where the toughest folks and meanest varmints live.”
Last updated: January 15, 2021