Trainer Brad Cox suspended 10 days by Kentucky stewards for horse's blood test

Louisville native Brad Cox, trainer of the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner, has been suspended 10 days and fined $500 by Kentucky stewards due to the results of a drug test of one of his horses that raced in the 2021 Grade 2 Stephen F. Foster Stakes.

According to a stewards ruling posted to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission website, a blood test of Warrior's Charge, which finished second in the Stephen F. Foster on June 26, 2021, at Churchill Downs, contained phenylbutazone at a level of 2.51 micrograms per milliliter in blood.

After waiving his right to a formal hearing, Cox was suspended and Warrior's Charge was disqualified.

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"We were completely shocked with these lab results," Cox said in a statement provided to The Courier Journal. "Due to the fact that this medication was administered within the strict guidelines that are set in place.

"Having said that, while we disagree with the results, I have to own it and accept responsibility. Moving forward, I am committed to industry-leading protocols which hopefully will prevent this from happening again."

All purse money awarded to Warrior's Charge for the second-place finish must be forfeited, but pari-mutuel wagering is not affected. Cox's suspension will run from May 23 through June 1.

Regulatory records maintained by The Jockey Club and the Association of Racing Commissioners International show Cox has been sanctioned 10 times for drug offenses in 19 years as a trainer. His last previous case was another phenylbutazone positive at Churchill Downs in October 2020.

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Though the 2020 positive was Cox’s second class C violation in a 365-day span, state stewards gave him a $500 fine instead of the 10-30 day suspension consistent with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s penalty matrix.

“We look on every case on its own merits,” chief steward Barbara Borden said at the time. “If you look at the Brad Cox case, the second horse ran nine days short of 365 days (later).

“We looked at it and thought a suspension was going to be a little over the top.”

Warrior’s Charge’s phenylbutazone positive was also Cox’s second class C violation in a 365-day span, but this time the stewards were not as lenient.

Cox-trained Mandaloun was declared winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby after the disqualification of Medina Spirit, which crossed the finish line first but tested positive for betamethasone.

Cox does not have a horse running in Saturday's Preakness Stakes.

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Tim Sullivan contributed to this story.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Brad Cox: Trainer suspended by Kentucky stewards over blood test