HOT SPRINGS -- It was not that long ago that trainer Brad Cox thought High North was going to be his Kentucky Derby horse.
While that dream may not have panned out, the 3-year-old gave Cox renewed hopes of saddling a future graded stakes contender by winning the 150,000 Northern Spur Stakes.
High North pulled away from the eight-horse field for a 2½-length victory at Oaklawn Park on Saturday afternoon.
Finishing no better than fourth in his past three races, High North got a boost Saturday with the addition of blinkers.
"We put blinkers on him hoping we would get a little more speed into him," Cox said. "Obviously, it did. He really ran well. I was very proud of the performance. We thought a lot of this horse all along."
It was the second win in seven tries for High North, whose last outing was a seventh-place finish in the Grade II Rebel Stakes on March 17. High North began his 2-year-old career at Saratoga in August and broke his maiden at Keeneland in October, but his first two graded stakes races resulted in fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.
With Florent Geroux aboard, High North sat behind early leader Soul P Say and eventual second-place finisher Ike for the first half of the 1 1/16-mile race. But when the field reached the second turn, High North took control.
"It was a nice trip," Geroux said. "I was in perfect striking position. The other horse [Ike] took me earlier than I wanted, but he was feeling good and pulled away at the end."
"Florent did a good job, knuckling down on him a little bit and getting him into position into the first turn," Cox said. "That's kind of what we were looking for. He really ran well."
High North, going off at odds of 9-2, paid 11.80, 5.60 and 4.40 and earned $90,000 for Shortleaf Stables. Ike paid 4.60 and 3.40, and Higher Power paid 6.60 to show. Post-time 4-5 favorite Title Ready finished fourth.
Sports on 04/15/2018