G1 Acorn part of Monomoy Girl's pursuit of championship | Belmont Stakes
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May 25, 2018

G1 Acorn part of Monomoy Girl's pursuit of championship

by NYRA Press Office



G1 Acorn part of Monomoy Girl's pursuit of championship

Monomoy Girl gave Louisville native Brad Cox his first Grade 1 victory in taking Keeneland's Ashland Stakes, then topped that by winning the $1 million Kentucky Oaks before a hometown crowd. Now the goal is to make Monomoy Girl the 3-year-old filly champion, the next step being Belmont Park's Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn at a mile on Belmont Stakes Day.

"Back in the fall, we thought we'd take our best shot at Grade 1s," Cox said at Churchill. "The Acorn is a Grade 1, sits right on the calendar five weeks after the Oaks, and we think a mile is probably her best distance. She's proven she can carry her speed going a mile at one turn. The one-turn mile at Belmont, we think she'll take to that.

"We have a four-race plan right now: Acorn, Coaching Club of America Oaks or possibly the Alabama [at Saratoga] or Cotillion [at Parx], then on to the Breeders' Cup. It would be nice to get four more races out of her this year. We've gotten three so far, and everything has gone as planned. It will be tough to keep things going. With horses, there obviously are setbacks - they're living, breathing creatures - but she's done extremely well all year."

Cox used the term "fantastic" to sum up how the filly is doing.

"She hasn't missed a beat. Her weight's great, her coat, she couldn't be doing any better," he said. "Going a mile and an eighth, breaking from the outside and being used a little bit early to get position, it wasn't an easy race. I thought one of the most encouraging things was that galloping out, she flicked her ears forward like, 'Is that it?'

"But she's really bounced out of it in great order. We didn't give her any extra time or anything after the race. It was business as usual, gave her the typical three days off and back to the track and she hasn't missed a beat."

Monomoy Girl, sired by Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Tapizar and a $100,000 Keeneland yearling purchase, is 6-for-7, with her only defeat by a neck in Churchill's Grade 2 Golden Rod on November 25. While she has set the lead in most of her races, she closed to win her 3-year-old debut in the Fair Grounds' Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra after hitting the gate at the start and shying at the eighth-pole.

In the Kentucky Oaks, Monomoy Girl broke from post 14, prompted the early pace before taking the lead and digging in to hold off Wonder Gadot by a half-length under regular rider Florent Geroux.

"Florent has done a great job with her, and I feel like she's still lightly raced," Cox said. "I think she's still figuring it out, but she took a big step forward last time, having to battle to win. That's something we didn't know she had. The only time before she'd ever really gotten in a battle, she lost here in the Golden Rod. I don't think it was because she wasn't the best horse. I think it was being green and inexperienced, feeling the stick and looking around at things. She's definitely maturing and doing things the right way."

Monomoy Girl trains at 7:40 a.m., immediately after the Belmont Stakes horses have their 10-minute allotted time. She's owned by Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, the Elkhorn Group and Bethlehem Stables.

Cox could also run Donegal Racing's Arklow in the $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan, one of six Grade 1 races on the Belmont Stakes card, or the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational at two miles on June 8. The 4-year-old Arklow was fourth in Churchills' Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic.

"He's doing really well," Cox said. "He probably needs to go a little farther than he's been running. That's why we're looking at both those races. He ran a really good race here at Churchill against Grade 1 horses and was fourth. That was his third race off the layoff. We think he'll get better as the year goes on and as he gets older."

Shortleaf Stable's 3-year-old High North, fourth in Belmont's Grade 3 Peter Pan in his last start, could run in the $150,000 Easy Goer at 1 1/16 miles or the Grade 2, $400,000 Woody Stephens, presented by Mohegan Sun, at seven furlongs. Klein Racing's 4-year-old Will Call, winner of the Grade 3 Churchill Downs Turf Sprint on the Kentucky Oaks card, is being pointed for the Grade 2, $400,000 Jaipur Invitational at six furlongs on turf, Cox said.


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