Page 37 - February 2021

Bill Melson, Cox Ranch Manager and Bobby D. Cox
Bill Melson, breeding manager for Bobby D. Cox
SPEEDLINES
Bobby D. Cox, the breeder of Whistle Stop Cafe, had a very good year in 2020. He was the AQHA Champion Breeder with earnings of over $5.1 million
know if he really saw the quality of mare that she turned out to be. But it looked to me like she just kept improving. This mare likes her job and I think that is what makes her so good. She has a big ole heart and she doesn’t like to be outrun. The fact that she doesn’t like to be outrun and she is so gutsy are the keys to her success.” He then added, “She’s not a big mare and she runs with these stallions and geldings and that takes a very special filly to do that.”
THE BREEDER
Bobby D. Cox, the breeder of Whistle Stop Cafe, had a very good year in 2020. He was the AQHA Champion Breeder with earnings of over $5.1 million and here are some highlights for the year. He bred three qualifiers for the All American Futurity with Whistle Stop Cafe, who finished first,
Instygator, who finished second, and Jettz, who finished fourth. Ratification, a Cox
bred and owned mare, won the first running of the All American Oaks after she won the Rainbow Oaks earlier in the summer. She was named the AQHA Champion Three-Year- Old Filly. Instygator finished third in the Heritage Place Futurity-G1. The winner was his half-brother Shott Gun, who is bred and owned by Bobby D. Cox. These half-brothers are out of the Cox broodmare Eye Popping by Mr Eye Opener.
The racing success of 2020 has now moved Bobby Cox to #2 on the list of AQHA All-Time Leading Breeders by Money Earned. He has bred horses that have earned in excess of $36 million. Bobby Cox is #3 on the AQHA All-Time Leading Owners by Money Earned list with earnings of over $11 million. Some
of the Bobby Cox bred runners include: Duponte, winner of the 2016 Heritage Place Futurity-G1; Nymeria, winner of
the 2017 Heritage Place Futurity-G1; and Sunnysyde, winner of the 2018 Heritage Place Futurity-G1. These three stakes winners are out of Havanah Goodtime,
an AQHA Dam of Distinction and a Cox bred and owned mare. When we add Shott Gun to the list of Heritage Place winners, we see that Bobby Cox not only bred them, but he was the sole owner and/or a partner with three of them. Some more of his successful runners that he owned and bred include: All About Ease, winner of the 2004 Ruidoso Futurity-G1; Dont Let Down, winner of the 2007 All American Derby-G1; and Brimmerton, winner of the 2004 Rainbow Derby-G1 and the All American Derby-G1.
Laico Bird, the only other two-year-old filly to win the World Champion title. She did it in 1967 when she won the All American Futurity as well as the Los Alamitos, Raton, Texas and Columbus futurities.
SPEEDHORSE February 2021 35