Heavily-favored Monomoy Girl continued what is now nearly a three-year winning streak Friday with a win in the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes under a hand ride from Florent Geroux. The 5-year-old fan favorite chestnut sat off early pacesetters Lady Kate and Risky Mandate, who put some daylight between themselves and Monomoy Girl up the backstretch. Going into the final turn, Geroux could be seen looking over his shoulder to size up any potential competition before allowing Monomoy Girl to put in some run at the top of the stretch. The mare opened up in late stretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths, prompting announcer Larry Collmus to proclaim “All she does is win!” as she hit the wire.
Monomoy Girl paid $2.80 to win.
Geroux would later tell NBC cameras he has to choose his moment carefully with Monomoy Girl, as she's inclined to do just enough to stay in the lead and needs competition to run at.
Lady Kate finished second, followed by Horologist. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.14, 5/100ths of a second off the stakes record.
Brad Cox trains Monomoy Girl for Michael Dubb and Monomoy Stables.
Monomoy Girl returned to the races earlier this year after missing her 4-year-old season due to a serious bout of colic, winning an allowance optional claimer and the G2 Ruffian. She also has wins in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff, G1 Kentucky Oaks, G1 Acorn, and G1 Coaching Club American Oaks to her credit.
Monomoy Girl was bred in Kentucky by FPF LLC and Highfield Ranch. She is the daughter of Tapizar and Henny Hughes mare Drumette.
See the full chart here.
LA TROIENNE QUOTES, courtesy of the Churchill Downs media office
Florent Geroux (winning rider, Monomoy Girl) — “There was no doubt. She gave us every indication in the morning that she was back at a top level. In the Ruffian, when she beat Vexatious pretty easily and then Vexatious came back and beat Midnight Bisou, it gave us a better line from there. Even if it wasn't for that, she's been working extremely well in the morning. There is no doubt she is a champion horse and definitely a horse of a lifetime. “There was a little bit of congestion going into the first turn, but I had a nice outside post. I was never worried. I was on the best horse and we had a great trip. I just had to push the button when she was ready.”
Brad Cox (winning trainer, Monomoy Girl) — “She's the only horse I get nervous running. Once I leg up Florent (Geroux) it's 10 minutes of anxiety. He did have to work on her a little bit to clear off from Lady Kate. She's a true champion and is able to overcome a four-wide trip into the first turn. She's the horse of a lifetime. The way she's trained since the spring, since April, is when she took off.”
Javier Castellano (rider, Lady Kate, second) — “I love the way she did it today. She broke so well out of the gate and I just let her do her own thing. The good thing is she'll rate beautifully on the lead. That's what I was looking for, I know Monomoy Girl was much the best but my filly ran a really good race. I think she was second best today and I'm very satisfied with the way she did it. She ran so good. I had a lot of confidence turning for home but when I saw Monomoy Girl, she went by. I wasn't disappointed in my filly because she responded too. Everything I asked for, she gave it to me. But Monomoy Girl was much the best.”
Eddie Kenneally (trainer, Lady Kate, second) — “We were delighted with that. That was a big effort. She didn't get beat very far. It was a good effort. We were delighted, absolutely. Grade 1, that means a lot.”
(On Breeders' Cup Distaff?) We'll get with Brad (Anderson), the owner, and we'll come up with a plan, but hopefully so.”
Brad Anderson (owner, Lady Kate, second) — “That was crazy. I'm so proud of her. I thought she was going to stop at the top of the stretch, and she just kept going. Monomoy Girl, come on. We gave her everything she wanted. It's just nice because we had to take our time with her, we've been patient. It's nice to see them finally run their race, get the break you want and get everything you wanted. And here we got beat by a better horse but we ran our race. Grade 1 on our pedigree, stakes-winner last time. That's huge. That's huge for me. That's the most expensive filly I ever bought ($485,000 yearling). And now I can thank my wife for letting me spend that kind of money.”
The post ‘All She Does Is Win’: Monomoy Girl Takes Grade 1 La Troienne In A Hand Ride appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
