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Monomoy Girl Works At Belmont In Advance Of July 11 Ruffian

Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables' multiple Grade 1-winnner Monomoy Girl breezed a half-mile in company in 49.30 seconds at 8:45 a.m. Saturday on a muddy Belmont Park main track under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano in preparation for the Grade 2, $150,000 Ruffian, a one-turn mile, at Belmont in Elmont, N.Y., on July 11.

Trained by Brad Cox, the 5-year-old Tapizar mare worked in company with multiple stakes winner A Bit of Both through splits of 12.3, 24.4 and out in 1:02.1.

Castellano said he enjoyed his cameo appearance aboard Monomoy Girl while filling in for regular pilot Florent Geroux, who will be at Belmont next weekend to ride the chestnut in the Ruffian.

“Today it was a very straightforward work, a half-mile from the half-mile pole with another horse inside. I was outside tracking the other horse,” said Castellano. “She handled the track well. Even at the beginning when we started galloping she was splashing nice and smooth in a good rhythm, good balance and good mind. These good types of horses, they do that.”

Monomoy Girl arrived at Belmont Park on Wednesday, alongside Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile contender Warrior's Charge, to prepare for her first graded race since capturing the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November 2018.

That win capped an Eclipse Award-winning season for Monomoy Girl which included Grade 1 victories in the Ashland at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, Acorn at Belmont Park and the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. The talented filly crossed the wire first – a neck in front of Midnight Bisou – in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx but was disqualified and placed second as the only blemish on her 3-year-old filly champion campaign.

Monomoy Girl, who missed the entirety of her 4-year-old season, was sent to WinStar Farm last spring after a mild case of colic and suffered an injury to her hamstring last fall when preparing for a potential comeback.

The champion chestnut returned to action on May 16 with a 2 3/4-length win in an optional-claiming tilt contested on a sloppy Churchill Downs main track, earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bred in Kentucky by FPF LLC and Highfield Ranch, Monomoy Girl is out of the Henny Hughes mare Drumette. A $100,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, she boasts a record of 12-10-2-0 with purse earnings in excess of $3 million.

The Grade 2 Ruffian is the final graded stakes of the 25-day Belmont spring/summer meet. Closing weekend will also include the $80,000 River Memories, a 1 1/2-mile stamina test on the turf for older fillies and mares, on Closing Day Sunday, July 12, before live racing shifts to Saratoga Race Course for the 40-day summer meet which runs from Thursday, July 16 through Labor Day, September 7.

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‘Better Now Than She’s Ever Been’: Champion Monomoy Girl Readies For Next Saturday’s Ruffian

Eclipse Award-winning mare Monomoy Girl will kick off her 2020 graded stakes action in attempt to make a case for Champion Older Mare in next Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Ruffian on July 11 at Belmont.

The daughter of Tapizar arrived at Belmont Park on Wednesday alongside Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile contender Warrior's Charge for trainer Brad Cox. Following a sensational 3-year-old campaign in 2018, which included five Grade 1 victories in the Ashland at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, Acorn at Belmont Park, Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga and the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs, Monomoy Girl missed the entirety of her 4-year-old season.

She was sent to WinStar Farm last spring after a mild case of colic and suffered an injury to her hamstring last fall when preparing for a potential comeback.

Despite being forced to twice delay her long-anticipated return to action, Monomoy Girl put her winning ways on display last out, going a one-turn mile in a Churchill Downs allowance event that featured stakes winners Talk Veuve To Me and Fashion Faux Pas.

In her first start since defeating older fillies and mares in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Distaff, Monomoy Girl tracked the pace over a sloppy main track sitting a close fifth early on and received her cue from jockey Florent Geroux around the far turn before drawing off to a 2 ¾-length victory.

“She's doing awesome. It would help if we could have run a week or two earlier but it's a great spot to jump off her last effort,” said Liz Crow of BSW/Crow Bloodstock who manages Monomoy Girl on behalf of owners Monomoy Stable, Michael Dubb, the Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables.

Although the talented chestnut mare's career highlights have taken place in the two-turn Kentucky Oaks and Breeders' Cup Distaff, Crow said she can thrive going a one-turn mile. She owns victories going the distance in the Grade 1 Acorn in June 2018 as well as the Rags to Riches at Churchill Downs during her 2-year-old campaign.

Crow indicated a second victory in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff on November 7 at Keeneland Race Course is the end goal.

“She's deadly going a one turn mile,” Crow said. “Her speed figures in the Acorn, Rags to Riches and her last start were great. But from here, she'll see a mile and a sixteenth to a mile and an eighth. The Personal Ensign is a little quick back after the Ruffian, but we do know that the Breeders' Cup is definitely the long term.”

Crow, who signed the ticket for Monomoy Girl when she went through the sales ring at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was purchased for $100,000.

“It's amazing how much she's changed,” Crow said. “If you look at her you could mistake her for a colt. Her hips have widened, her shoulders have deepened, and looking her now as a 5-year-old she just doesn't look like the same horse. She's better now than she's ever been.”

Monomoy Girl has accumulated just over $3 million in lifetime earnings and has never finished worse than second in a dozen starts, 10 of which were victories.

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Champion Monomoy Girl Points To Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes On July 11

2018's Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Monomoy Girl will run next in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes on July 11 at Belmont Park, trainer Brad Cox told the Thoroughbred Daily News this week.

The 5-year-old daughter of Tapizar returned off nearly an 18-month layoff to win an allowance race at Churchill Downs on May 16, and was briefly under consideration for this Saturday's G2 Fleur De Lis Handicap over nine furlongs. Instead, Monomoy Girl will head to the one-turn mile of the Ruffian, and a meeting with last year's Champion Older Dirt Female Midnight Bisou will be delayed until later in the season.

“She's really training well and we feel like the one-turn mile at Belmont will really suit her well right now and it gives us plenty of time between races,” Cox told the TDN. “The race just make sense. She's coming off a very long layoff, and we have to keep that in mind. She was off a year and a half. It's not like this is her second race back after a three-month layoff.”

A winner of 10 of her 12 lifetime starts, Monomoy Girl's current earnings stand at just over $3 million. Her year-end goal is the Breeders' Cup Distaff, Cox said.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Monomoy Girl to Go Next in Ruffian

Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) will run next in the GII Ruffian S. on July 11 at Belmont Park, reports trainer Brad Cox.

The champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, Monomoy Girl was sidelined for nearly a year and a half before making a successful return to the races with a May 16 allowance win at Churchill Downs. Like the Ruffian, her comeback race was a one-turn mile event.

“She’s really training well and we feel like the one-turn mile at Belmont will really suit her well right now and it gives us plenty of time between races,” Cox said. “The race just make sense. She’s coming off a very long layoff, and we have to keep that in mind. She was off a year and a half. It’s not like this is her second race back after a three-month layoff.”

Monomoy Girl is bypassing this Saturday’s GII Fleur de Lis H., a stakes for older fillies and mares on her home turf at Churchill Downs that will feature Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). Cox said that while he was not eager to face Midnight Bisou at this juncture in the season, the main reason for choosing the Ruffian over the nine-furlong Fleur de Lis was the distance of the Churchill race.

“Right now, after such a long layoff, a mile and an eighth is not what I am looking for,” Cox said.

If it happens, the rematch between Monomoy Girl and Midnight Bisou will be one of the most anticipated races of the year.

The two have not met since the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which was won by Monomoy Girl with Midnight Bisou finishing third. The two faced each other four times in 2018 and Monomoy Girl crossed the wire first each time. However, Midnight Bisou was placed first, and ahead of Monomoy Girl, in the GI Cotillion S. due to interference. With Monomoy Girl out all of 2019, Midnight Bisou put together a championship season in which she went seven for eight.

“Our horse is unbelievable, she’s a great mare,” Cox said. “I’m looking forward to the match up with Midnight Bisou. They are two champions and it would be great for racing for them to meet. It would be a tremendous boost for the sport.”

Cox said the only other race that is definitely on Monomoy Girl’s schedule this year is the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

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