Brad Cox backs Commandment for Belmont rebound after Kentucky Derby

Brad Cox did not want Commandment dismissed as a one-race disappointment. The Kentucky Derby finish looked ordinary on paper, but Cox’s case was that the colt’s trip was compromised, his recovery was sharp and the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga offered a different kind of test for a horse who had already proven he could win when it mattered.

Commandment came into the Belmont as a multiple graded-stakes winner and one of only three Grade 1 winners in the nine-horse field. He drew post seven, landed at 6-1 on the morning line and entered a race led by Renegade, the 2-1 favorite, with Golden Tempo next in the market at 9-2. John Velazquez was set to ride him for the first time, giving Commandment a third different jockey in as many starts and adding a Hall of Fame presence to a horse Cox believed still belonged in the conversation.

The Derby is what made the public wary, but Cox pointed back to the details. Commandment broke slowly, was 13th through a half-mile in :46.44 and had to make an overland run before being bounced around in traffic. He still finished only 5 1/4 lengths behind Golden Tempo, a margin Cox viewed as far more encouraging than the placement suggested. After the Derby, Commandment breezed four furlongs in :48.80 at Churchill Downs, and Case Clay said the horse came out of the race in good order as the team pointed toward Saratoga.

That confidence was grounded in a prep season that already showed command of the division’s big stages. Commandment won the Mucho Macho Man Stakes by 6 3/4 lengths on Jan. 3, returned $3.00, then followed with a neck victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 28 in 1:43.33 over Chief Wallabee. He capped the spring with a nose decision in the Florida Derby on March 28 in 1:49.99 over The Puma, sweeping five wide and giving Cox back-to-back wins in Gulfstream’s signature Kentucky Derby prep.

The Belmont itself carried its own wrinkle. It was the third and final run at Saratoga during the Belmont Park rebuild, and the race was run at 1 1/4 miles instead of the traditional 1 1/2. That shorter trip, the Saratoga layout and a likely sharper pace made Commandment a more interesting threat than his Derby line suggested. Cox’s view was simple: the colt’s class, courage and Florida record still made him dangerous.