The Highway to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) continues Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs with the $400,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2), and as soon as once more it runs by way of the barn of coach Brad Cox.

With six Oaks preps within the ebook, Cox has gained half of them due to Godolphin homebreds Immersive , the unopposed favourite for Eclipse Champion 2-12 months-Outdated Filly, and Good Cheer , winner of the Oct. 27 Rags to Riches Stakes. The highest 5 finishers Saturday will obtain qualifying factors on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

With the Oaks simply over 150 days away, Cox will saddle Golden Rod runners Good Cheer  and Eclatant  to try to push his Oaks-prep win charge over 50%, a charge that could possibly be lifted even increased because the undefeated and extremely regarded Muhimma  is concentrating on the Dec. 7 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Good Cheer returns to the 1 1/16-mile Churchill Downs highlight with a 3-for-3 document and $215,160 within the financial institution. The Medaglia d’Oro   filly started her profession with a one-mile victory at Horseshoe Indianapolis, a spot chosen to get her began round two turns, earlier than an allowance win and the Rags to Riches triumph, each at 1 1/16 miles, at Churchill.

“We all the time felt like, together with her pedigree and the way she skilled, that she’d be a two-turn filly,” Cox mentioned. “The most important takeaway has been how dominant she’s been.”

That dominance has come within the type of a 30-length mixed margin. The smallest of these victories got here within the Rags to Riches, through which she overcame being roughed up at first to surge by a well-regarded Claire’s Attraction , who misses this rematch with an sickness, and win by 4 3/4 lengths.

However Good Cheer just isn’t the lone undefeated contender who will exit the Cox barn. Not like her stablemate, Stonestreet Stables’ homebred Eclatant has solely began round one flip, successful her 5 1/2-furlong debut at Churchill Downs in June and a six-furlong allowance at Keeneland Oct. 4.

Expectations have all the time been excessive for the daughter of Into Mischief  , being labeled as Cox’s “Saratoga filly” earlier than a minor setback made her miss the meet. Her 1 1/4-length win at Keeneland, whereas ending 12 1/2 lengths away from third, was a optimistic signal that she was again.

Essentially the most completed of that group is Shortleaf Secure’s Quietside . Following a victory in her August debut at Saratoga Race Course, the daughter of Malibu Moon has earned two grade 1 placings behind presumptive champion Immersive. Second as the favourite in Saratoga’s Spinaway Stakes (G1) and third in Keeneland’s Alcibiades Stakes (G1) Oct. 4, she has proven loads of potential and goals to get a breakthrough victory for coach John Ortiz.

Sturgeon Moon  confirmed an affinity for the 1 1/16-mile distance when she pulled off a 31-1 upset in opposition to allowance firm in her first begin round two turns at Keeneland Oct. 18. Racing within the colours of OXO Equine for coach Paulo Lobo, she is 2-for-3 with earnings of $90,790.

The opposite three runners, Fixin to Bee , My Lil Punky , and Flash Put on , all exit their third profession begin through which they acquired maiden victories. Fixin to Bee, owned by Calumet Farm and skilled by Rusty Arnold, makes her filth debut.