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Veteran, Trainer Jeff Hiles Seeks First Stakes Win With Shesa Mystery In Dogwood

Jeff Hiles launched his training career just four years ago but the 41-year-old United States Marine Corp. veteran is poised to record his first stakes victory with 3-year-old filly Shesa Mystery in Saturday's $275,000 Dogwood (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs.

Owned by John Gaynor's Let It Ride Stables, Shesa Mystery enters Saturday's seven-furlong Dogwood with a lifetime record of 5-2-1-0 with $84,332 in purse earnings. The chestnut filly by Verrazano broke her maiden four starts ago at Indiana Grand by 4 ¾ lengths and returned three weeks later to score a 2 ¾-length first-level allowance victory.

“We're really excited about her in this spot,” Hiles said. “She's coming into this race in great shape. (Carribean Caper) is a really nice filly for (trainer) Al (Stall Jr.) but if she can handle the shortened distance I think she'll run a big effort.”

Shesa Mystery finished second two starts ago in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks (GIII) and enters Saturday's affair with an enigmatic seventh-place finish in the $100,000 Pucker Up (G3) over the turf.

Hiles is quietly having a solid year hitting at a 25 percent win-clip with 13 wins from 53 starters. His purse earnings of $313,761 are higher than his first three years of his training career combined.

Fans may recognize Hiles as the son of veteran Kentucky-based conditioner Rick Hiles. Prior to starting his career in 2018, Hiles served as the Churchill Downs-based assistant to Kenny McPeek.

Shesa Mystery is based at Highpointe Farm and Training Center which is located in La Grange, Ky., about 45 minutes northeast of Churchill Downs.

The Dogwood drew a compact field of seven 3-year-old fillies and was carded as Race 8 with a post time of 4:22 p.m. (all times Eastern). Saturday's 11-race card features a stakes trio including the inaugural runnings of the $275,000 Bourbon Trail® and $275,000 Harrods Creek, both for 3-year-olds. First post is 12:45 p.m.

The complete Dogwood field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

Coppelia (Martin Garcia, Phil Bauer, 15-1)
Carribean Caper (Colby Hernandez, Stall, even-money)
Li'l Tootsie (James Graham, Tom Amoss, 3-1)
Malloy (Joe Talamo, Wayne Catalano, 10-1)
Shesa Mystery (Miguel Mena, Hiles, 10-1)
Patty H (Julien Leparoux, Mike Miceli, 7-2)
Someone Said So (Adam Beschizza, Coty Rosin, 15-1)

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Cross Country Pick 5 Features Action From Belmont, Churchill, Parx

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring action from Belmont Park, Churchill Downs and Parx.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5 kicks off with the Grade 2 Gallant Bob [Race 10, 4:22 p.m. Eastern], the first of a trio of graded events from Parx in the sequence. Multiple Grade 1-winner Jackie's Warrior, last-out winner of the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, is listed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the six-furlong sprint for sophomores. Track specialist Beren, a four-time winner at Parx, will look to spring the upset for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.

In the second leg, Stonestreet Stables' homebred Clairiere will look to secure a first Grade 1 win when exiting post 6 under Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the $1 million Cotillion [Race 11, 5:01 p.m.], a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies. The Curlin bay, trained by Asmussen, enters from a runner-up effort to Kentucky Oaks-winner Malathaat in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Alabama at the Spa.

Maracuja will be reunited with Kendrick Carmouche, who guided the Honor Code gray to a third-out maiden win in February at Aqueduct. The Rob Atras trainee captured the Grade 1 CCA Oaks in July with Santana, Jr. up in place of the injured Carmouche and enters from an off-the-board effort in the Alabama. Always Carina, runner-up in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Mother Goose two starts back at Belmont, stretches out from a fourth-place finish in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Longines Test in August at the Spa for trainer Chad Brown.

Action switches to Churchill Downs for the middle leg of the sequence as a field of 10 sophomores sprint seven furlongs in the Harrods Creek [Race 10, 5:26 p.m.] led by Clearview Stable's stakes-placed Irish Unity. Trained by Asmussen, the Pioneerof the Nile gelding is out of the multiple graded-stakes winning Dixie Union mare Justwhistledixie making him a half-sibling to graded-stakes winners Enforceable, Kingly, Mohaymen and New Year's Day. Multiple stakes-placed Dreamer's Disease and speedy shipper Emerald Forest are among a number of contenders in a wide-open affair.

Hot Rod Charlie, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the penultimate leg – the nine-furlong Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby [Race 12, 5:49 p.m.] at Parx. Trained by Doug O'Neill, the Oxbow colt was a game third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs and last out crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park but was disqualified and placed seventh after drifting in front of Midnight Bourbon, who clipped heels and fell.

Midnight Bourbon exited the Haskell to finish second in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers last out and will provide steep opposition under returning pilot Santana, Jr. Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner, a bay son of Street Sense trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, steps into stakes company for the first time off a sharp allowance score against older company in August at the Spa. Graded-stakes winners Fulsome, Weyburn, Keepmeinmind, and Bourbonic add depth to a loaded field.

The sequence concludes with the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia [Race 10, 5:58 p.m.], a nine-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Group 3-winner Pocket Square and stakes-placed Miss Teheran in a compact field of five that includes the well-related Lake Lucerne, a bay daughter of Dubawi out of the multiple Grade 1-winning Awesome Again mare Round Pond.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, September 25:
Leg A: Parx-Race 10 Grade 2 Gallant Bob (4:44 p.m.)
Leg B: Parx-Race 11 Grade 1 Cotillion (5:02 p.m.)
Leg C: Churchill -Race 10 Harrods Creek (5:26 p.m.)
Leg D: Parx-Race 12 Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby (5:49 p.m.)
Leg E: Belmont-Race 10 Grade 3 Athenia (5:58 p.m.)

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Sesamoid Fracture Forces Retirement Of Two-Time Champion Monomoy Girl

Monomoy Girl, the two-time Eclipse Award winner and seven-time Grade 1 winner, has been retired from racing after she was discovered to have sustained an injury during training Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

“Monomoy Girl went out for a routine gallop Tuesday morning and came back a little off in her right front leg. We had it x-rayed and found a non-displaced fracture of the sesamoid. Obviously, we're very disappointed,” said trainer Brad Cox. “She's walking sound today and it's not anything that will require surgery. It's just unfortunate that it will end her racing career.”

Owned by My Racehorse, Spendthrift Farm and Madaket Stables, Monomoy Girl had been making a return to racing following a break over the spring since her narrow runner-up finish to Letruska in Oaklawn's Apple Blossom S. (G1) in April. The 6-year-old chestnut mare retires with 14 wins and three seconds from 17 lifetime starts.

“I'm going to miss having her around and not being able to put a saddle on her again, but Monomoy Girl owes us nothing,” said Cox. “She's an unbelievable mare and will always hold a special place in my heart as our first Oaks winner, Breeders' Cup winner and champion. She will go to Spendthrift to start her breeding career and I'm sure she'll be an awesome mom.”

Spendthrift's Ned Toffey said that Monomoy Girl is expected to come to the Lexington-based farm this week to settle into her new career as a future broodmare. Breeding plans have not yet been determined.

“Certainly, we are disappointed, especially for all of our partners,” said Toffey. “While we were hopeful to get her back to the races this year, we won't lose focus on what is most important and that is a healthy Monomoy Girl. She's an all-time great and we look forward to the next chapter of her career and giving her a great life on the farm at Spendthrift.”

A stakes winner at two, Monomoy Girl went on to capture four consecutive Grade 1 victories as a 3-year-old including the Ashland, Acorn, CCA Oaks and storied Kentucky Oaks. She returned to Churchill Downs later in the year to become just the eleventh 3-year-old to win the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), earning her first Eclipse Award as the 2018 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.

Setbacks caused Monomoy Girl to miss a 4-year-old campaign, however, she returned at five in career form, ripping off four straight wins and punctuating a perfect season with another Breeders' Cup Distaff triumph last November at Keeneland. She earned her second Eclipse Award, this time as the 2020 Champion Older Dirt Female.

Monomoy Girl set a world record last fall after selling for $9.5 million as a racing/broodmare prospect at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Spendthrift elected to keep her in training and partnered with MyRacehorse to offer microshare ownership in the superstar racemare for her 2021 campaign. Monomoy Girl won the Bayakoa S. (G3) at Oaklawn in her seasonal debut before her nose defeat to divisional frontrunner Letruska, earning a 102 Beyer – the second highest Beyer of her career.

With earnings of $4,776,818, Monomoy Girl ranks as the fifth highest-earning dirt female of all time, joining an illustrious top 5 list that includes Midnight Bisou, Zenyatta, Beholder and Royal Delta.

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Cox Plans To Train Essential Quality Up To Breeders’ Cup Classic

Trainer Brad Cox will not start juvenile champion Essential Quality again before the Breeders' Cup Classic, reports the Daily Racing Form. Instead, the 3-year-old son of Tapit will train up to the race at his home base of Churchill Downs.

“The plan is to have all his works here,” Cox told DRF. “He'll pretty much work every Saturday from here on in until we leave for Del Mar. It's 10 weeks from the Travers to the Classic, and that's just fine.”

This year, Essential Quality has racked up wins in the G3 Southwest, G2 Blue Grass, G1 Belmont, G2 Jim Dandy, and G1 Travers Stakes. His only loss came in the Kentucky Derby, in which the colt finished fourth, beaten one length at the wire.

Conversely, the champion's stablemate Knicks Go will have his final Breeders' Cup prep in the Lukas Classic on Oct. 2 at Churchill.