Breeders' Cup Champion | Horse Racing Free Tips

Monomoy Girl Arrives at Spendthrift Farm, To Visit Into Mischief Next Year

Two-time Breeders' Cup Champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar–Drumette, by Henny Hughes) arrived at Spendthrift Farm on Monday, shortly after noon, from Churchill Downs, and the farm announced “unofficially” that she will be bred to perennial leading sire Into Mischief in 2022.

The six-year-old mare was retired from racing last week after she was discovered to have sustained an injury during training.

Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey was on site for the arrival and spoke on their decision to send her to Into Mischief.

“It's not a tremendous amount of pedigree research there, it's just one of those breed the best to the best-type things,” he said. “She's certainly among the very best and we feel that Into Mischief is too.”

Monomoy Girl took in her surroundings with ease after stepping off the van in Lexington and then strode into the quarantine barn, where she will reside for the next 30 days.

“Having been retired because of a fairly minor injury, we'll go very slowly with the acclimation process here to her becoming a broodmare,” Toffey said. “[She is in] our regular quarantine barn where Beholder was when she first came to Spendthrift. We'll set up a pen that will let her get outside, eat some grass, get some sun on her back and get used to her surroundings. We'll do some hand walking and continue to take things slow with her. After she's acclimated, probably about 30 days, we'll find her a buddy who will likely be another filly just off the track. They'll eventually work their way into our group of barren and maiden mares here.”

Purchased by Liz Crow for $100,000 at the Keeneland September Sale and originally campaigned by the ownership group of Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin's Monomoy Stables, Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, the Brad Cox trainee was sent through the ring at last year's Fasig-Tipton Night of Stars Sale after taking two editions of the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in 2018 and 2020. She sold for $9.5 million to Spendthrift Farm there, and MyRacehorse Stable and Madaket Stables soon joined in the partnership. This year, she captured the GIII Bayakoa S. and finished second to MGISW Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Apple Blossom H.

Toffey said the crew at Spendthrift is thrilled to have Monomoy Girl join the likes of another champion in Beholder at Spendthrift.

“It's really exciting to have these kinds of horses here, to have her join Beholder, and eventually Got Stormy (Get Stormy) will be chiming in here pretty soon herself. It's the kind of broodmare band we'd like to have as a really, really top-notch group of mares and hopefully we'll be able to keep daughters out of these two great mares for years to come.”

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Audarya Fit and Well, Likely to Remain in Training

GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has exited her Keeneland victory in good order and will be hopefully kept in training next year owner Alison Swinburn revealed, subject to input from trainer James Fanshawe. A winner of the G1 Prix Jean Romanet earlier in the season, it was the first Breeders’ Cup win for both parties.

“Last night was one of the most exciting, most thrilling, amazing nights of my life,” said owner Alison Swinburn to the GBRI notes team. “We were screaming her home. I’ve never been prouder.

“James and Jacko [Fanshawe] have done a phenomenal job out in Keeneland, and not just them; Helen, the travelling head girl who took Audarya out there, Geoffrey, her work rider, they’ve all done an amazing job at delivering the filly to the start of the race in absolute peak condition. She looked superb.

“His [James’] whole thing was keeping her relaxed and well within herself, which obviously she was because she ran the race of her life.”

Swinburn wasn’t yet ready to send her star to the paddocks however.

“Once she gets back, she’ll have a very well deserved rest and then I think I’ll sit down with James and discuss next year. Personally, I think I’d like to keep her in training for a year. Hopefully this damned pandemic will have gone and I’ll actually be able to go and enjoy watching her run and then maybe at the end of next season be looking at sending her to the paddocks.

“But I think that’s a decision we’ll all make. We’ll look at the calendar, work out what’s best for her and then go from there.”

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A Decade Later, Zenyatta Still Racing Royalty

Whether you choose to believe them or not, people always said that she knew where the finish line was. And there was never any denying the intelligence of four-time Eclipse champion and Horse of the Year Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}).

She was quirky and a bit high-strung, and she made a hobby out of throwing exercise riders in the mornings. Her dance when she hit the track during warmup, whether it was to toy with her fans or to release adrenaline, and her ability to switch gears as she weaved between foes and charged down the lane towards the wire were all the elements that made Zenyatta, well, Zenyatta.

Now almost 10 years since that heart-wrenching day at Churchill Downs that kept her just short of a 20-race perfect record, the 16-year-old broodmare still has the same bright eye and the presence of a champion.

“Zenyatta’s probably the most intelligent horse on the farm,” said Jenn Laidlaw, the broodmare manager at Lane’s End Farm. “She knows that she’s important and she knows who she is. She has a real presence about her.”

The Hall of Famer can spot a camera from a mile away and when she spies someone approaching her paddock, she presents her hind end to the fence and awaits expectantly for a good scratching, pawing impatiently if it is not received in a timely manner.

Zenyatta’s exceptional talent on the track has yet to be seen in her offspring, with her first foal Cozmic One (Bernardini) running unplaced in five starts, but now succeeding in the show ring. Her other son Ziconic (Tapit) also never visited the winner’s circle.

But in the next few years, there is new opportunity for Zenyatta’s progeny to succeed.

Her daughter Zellda, a 3-year-old filly by Medaglia d’Oro, is in training under John Shirreffs and recorded her latest breeze on July 13, going four furlongs from the gate at Del Mar.

And this year, a second daughter arrived to carry on the family name.

Zenyatta foaled a filly by Candy Ride (Arg) on May 17.

“She’s been a superstar since day one,” Laidlaw said of the foal. “She popped up and started walking within an hour. She’s been healthy. She’s been happy. She hasn’t put a foot wrong since she’s been here. She’s got a great body and is a fairly correct foal, really typical for a Candy Ride. She’s probably my favorite of Zenyatta’s foals.”

Laidlaw added that this filly has the same gregarious personality as her mother.

“She knows who she is,” she said. “She’ll stand, she’ll pose, she knows when the camera is on her. She enjoys being groomed and she enjoys everybody giving her attention.”

Laidlaw has held various positions at Lane’s End over the last 10 years and has been present for Zenyatta’s entire broodmare career.

“With a foal at foot, she’s a great mom,” Laidlaw said. “She loves other foals. She usually has the other foals around her. She’s just a really smart mare and is great to be around.”

Laidlaw also said she enjoys witnessing the interaction between the champion mare and her adoring fans.

“When the fans get the opportunity to meet her, they’ll just start crying,” she said. “It’s really heartwarming to see how much she affected people’s daily lives and how much they love her. There are stories people tell you about how she’s helped them through situations or how she gave them motivation. We have a girl that works here and [Zenyatta] is what brought her into the industry. She absolutely loves this mare.”

Zenyatta was bred back to Candy Ride this year, and her filly this year will soon be weaned. The Hall of Famer isn’t in the spotlight quite as often nowadays as she was a decade ago, but she will always be racing royalty.

“I think Zenyatta being special is different for different people,” Laidlaw said. “Obviously she was a great race mare, but she just really got you excited every race she was in. She’s an outstanding horse for this industry, to bring people in and get them excited. Everybody loves her.”

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