Kentucky Oaks (G1) vixen MONOMOY GIRL breezed a half-mile in :47.20 over the fast main track at Churchill Downs on Sunday in advance of a the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park on the June 9 Belmont Stakes undercard.
“She breezed very well,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We’re excited to run her in New York. We sat down at the end of last year and mapped out a campaign for her and this race was on our radar since then. Our end goal is to win three-year-old filly honors at the Eclipse Awards and I’d say right now she’s at the top of the list right now.”
With exercise rider Mario Garcia aboard, the Tapizar filly worked in company with stablemate Dazzling Gem, clocking splits of :12.40, :24 and :36. The chestnut lass galloped out five-eighths in :59.80 and six furlongs in 1:12.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Grade 2-placed Dazzling Gem was credited with a :47.80 four-furlong move.
According to Cox, Monomoy has a workmate to keep “her focused. We’ve only worked her once this year without company. It was her first work after the Rachel Alexandra (G2). She worked fine, but she’s still a young horse. She’s three, and I’m looking for honest works out of her. I know I’m going to get an honest work out of her with company. If I send her on her own, I could maybe not get as much out of her. I’d hate to not get what I was looking for as far as going into a race.
“Now is not the time to experiment,” Cox added. “We got this far with her keeping her in company and keeping her sharp, and it worked out well.”
“I was really pleased with what we accomplished. She seemed to cool out fine,” Cox said. “I wanted to keep her sharp. We’re shortening up to a mile. She had a really nice breeze last week, and she followed it up with a similar breeze this week.
“The only difference was that we broke off at the five-eighths pole last week and this week we broke off at the half. The times were very similar. She was breezing really well, in the bridle. I like everything about her. She certainly doesn’t seem like she’s regressed at all.”
Monomoy Girl cuts back to a mile in the Acorn off a half-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill Downs. The chestnut miss has suffered just one loss in her seven-race career, with that coming as a neck second in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) last fall in her juvenile finale at Churchill.
“I think she’s improved a lot mentally since the Oaks,” Cox said. “She seems to be real focused in her gallops and obviously her breezes. I’m really happy with where we are with her.”
Monomoy Girl is scheduled to ship to New York on Tuesday.
