Correll’s Corner: John Hancock: A big signature

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview

John Hancock: A big signature

TRINITY, Fla. – John Hancock signed his first ticket on the 2025 Kentucky Derby trail with a hard-fought win over Owen Almighty in the Sam F. Davis on Feb. 8 at Tampa Bay Downs.

The son of Constitution won the stakes race in his second start and gave trainer Brad Cox a serious contender in the 3-year-old class.

John Hancock and Owen Almighty went after each other from the start and cut fractions of 22.75, 46.23 and 1:10.49 for three-quarters of a mile. Owen Almighty got his head in front at the eighth-pole, but John Hancock fought back to hit the wire first in 1:42.27 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth race and set a new stakes record.

Cox said (via telephone): “It was his first time facing winners, it was the second start of his life, it was his first time going long. It was a lot to ask from a young horse. He took a lot of pressure and stayed on well. He fought off a horse (Owen Almighty) that had multiple starts, and was a stakes winner. I’m looking forward to how he comes out of it, and we’ll get him back to Payson Park tonight and regroup and come up for a plan for the future.”

This weeks top 3-year-olds:

Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) won the Lewis.

Barnes (Into Mischief) won the San Vicente.

Rodriguez (Authetic) second in the Lewis.

John Hancock (Constitution) won the Sam F. Davis.

Disco Time (Not This Time) won the Lecomte at Fairgrounds.

Coal Battle (Coal Front) won both the Springboard Mile at Remington Park and the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park. He is trained by Lonnie Briley.

Burnham Square (Liam’s Map) won Holy Bull.

First Resort (Uncle Mo) won the Kentucky Jockey Club. He is trained by Eoin Harty.

Journalism (Curlin) won the Los Alamitos Derby. He is trained by Michael McCarthy.

Captain Cook (Practical Joke) won the Withers.

Poster (Munnings) was third in Sam F. Davis.