Monomoy Girl Set to Return After Third Comeback

[Wandering Eyes]

Ever since Monomoy Girl surged past the Churchill Downs finish line to take the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, fans have eagerly awaited her return. It’s been a long road over the past year and a half, but the now five-year-old Eclipse Champion is slated to make her 2020 debut on Saturday, May 16^th.

The five-time GI winner will be the star of Churchill Downs’ opening day, facing six other fillies and mares in a one-mile $80,000 allowance optional claimer. Her competition includes dual stakes winner Fashion Faux Pas (Flatter), as well as the GI-placed, GIII-winning Talk Veuve to Me (Violence).

Trainer Brad Cox said, “It’s been an uphill battle since the Breeders’ Cup, but she’s responded well this time around. We have her ready to run and she’s moving great; she’s happy.”

{"id":3,"instanceName":"Articles No Playlist","videos":[{"videoType":"HTML5","title":"Monomoy Girl Set to Return After Third Comeback ","description":"","info":"","thumbImg":"","mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/417839283.sd.mp4?s=80f169a5d7185830b7e2d20986c61374e111d689&profile_id=165","enable_mp4_download":"no","prerollAD":"yes","prerollGotoLink":"prerollGotoLink","preroll_mp4_title":"preroll_mp4_title","preroll_mp4":"https://player.vimeo.com/external/377807569.sd.mp4?s=674b32c38452190d362f3fd6d07f1d9142237840&profile_id=165","prerollSkipTimer":"5","midrollAD":"no","midrollAD_displayTime":"midrollAD_displayTime","midrollGotoLink":"midrollGotoLink","midroll_mp4":"midroll_mp4","midrollSkipTimer":"midrollSkipTimer","postrollAD":"no","postrollGotoLink":"postrollGotoLink","postroll_mp4":"postroll_mp4","postrollSkipTimer":"postrollSkipTimer","popupAdShow":"no","popupImg":"popupImg","popupAdStartTime":"popupAdStartTime","popupAdEndTime":"popupAdEndTime","popupAdGoToLink":"popupAdGoToLink"}],"instanceTheme":"light","playerLayout":"fitToContainer","videoPlayerWidth":720,"videoPlayerHeight":405,"videoRatio":1.7777777777778,"videoRatioStretch":true,"videoPlayerShadow":"effect1","colorAccent":"#000000","posterImg":"","posterImgOnVideoFinish":"","logoShow":"No","logoPath":"","logoPosition":"bottom-right","logoClickable":"No","logoGoToLink":"","allowSkipAd":true,"advertisementTitle":"Ad","skipAdvertisementText":"Skip Ad","skipAdText":"You can skip this ad in","playBtnTooltipTxt":"Play","pauseBtnTooltipTxt":"Pause","rewindBtnTooltipTxt":"Rewind","downloadVideoBtnTooltipTxt":"Download video","qualityBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Close settings","qualityBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Settings","muteBtnTooltipTxt":"Mute","unmuteBtnTooltipTxt":"Unmute","fullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Fullscreen","exitFullscreenBtnTooltipTxt":"Exit fullscreen","infoBtnTooltipTxt":"Show info","embedBtnTooltipTxt":"Embed","shareBtnTooltipTxt":"Share","volumeTooltipTxt":"Volume","playlistBtnClosedTooltipTxt":"Show playlist","playlistBtnOpenedTooltipTxt":"Hide playlist","facebookBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Facebook","twitterBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Twitter","googlePlusBtnTooltipTxt":"Share on Google+","lastBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to last video","firstBtnTooltipTxt":"Go to first video","nextBtnTooltipTxt":"Play next video","previousBtnTooltipTxt":"Play previous video","shuffleBtnOnTooltipTxt":"Shuffle on","shuffleBtnOffTooltipTxt":"Shuffle off","nowPlayingTooltipTxt":"NOW PLAYING","embedWindowTitle1":"SHARE THIS PLAYER:","embedWindowTitle2":"EMBED THIS VIDEO IN YOUR SITE:","embedWindowTitle3":"SHARE LINK TO THIS PLAYER:","lightBox":false,"lightBoxAutoplay":false,"lightBoxThumbnail":"","lightBoxThumbnailWidth":400,"lightBoxThumbnailHeight":220,"lightBoxCloseOnOutsideClick":true,"onFinish":"Play next video","autoplay":false,"loadRandomVideoOnStart":"No","shuffle":"No","playlist":"Off","playlistBehaviourOnPageload":"opened (default)","playlistScrollType":"light","preloadSelfHosted":"none","hideVideoSource":true,"showAllControls":true,"rightClickMenu":true,"autohideControls":2,"hideControlsOnMouseOut":"No","nowPlayingText":"Yes","infoShow":"No","shareShow":"No","facebookShow":"No","twitterShow":"No","mailShow":"No","facebookShareName":"","facebookShareLink":"","facebookShareDescription":"","facebookSharePicture":"","twitterText":"","twitterLink":"","twitterHashtags":"","twitterVia":"","googlePlus":"","embedShow":"No","embedCodeSrc":"","embedCodeW":720,"embedCodeH":405,"embedShareLink":"","youtubeControls":"custom controls","youtubeSkin":"dark","youtubeColor":"red","youtubeQuality":"default","youtubeShowRelatedVideos":"Yes","vimeoColor":"00adef","showGlobalPrerollAds":false,"globalPrerollAds":"url1;url2;url3;url4;url5","globalPrerollAdsSkipTimer":5,"globalPrerollAdsGotoLink":"","videoType":"HTML5 (self-hosted)","submit":"Save Changes","rootFolder":"https:\/\/wp.tdn.pmadv.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/Elite-video-player\/"}

Following the Distaff in 2018, the daughter of Tapizar (Tapit) took a short layoff before returning to the Fair Grounds at the beginning of 2019. She was able to put in five recorded works, and was preparing for her four-year-old debut when a sudden case of colic pushed her to the sidelines.

BSW Bloodstock agent Liz Crow carefully monitored Monomoy Girl’s progress as she worked through the setback. “She was in pretty rough shape at Rood and Riddle. She lost a lot of weight, and it was pretty serious.”

Monomoy Girl was sent to rehab at WinStar before heading to Churchill in July of last year to rejoin Cox.

“She was doing extremely well and we felt like she was a couple weeks from the races,” said Cox.

But this time, a hamstring injury kept her from the starting gate.

Crow said, “She breezed four times, and on the fourth breeze, she didn’t come out of it well the next day. She was off behind.”

She was sent to Paul Sharp’s stable in Florida and stayed there for the remainder of 2019.

At the beginning of this year, Monomoy Girl rejoined the Cox barn for the third time. She was able to put in three works at Fair Grounds before shipping to Lexington and has been training consistently at Keeneland since.

Crow tributes Dr. Wes Sutter of Rood and Riddle for getting the mare back to the track for a third time.

“I really don’t think we’d be back here without him,” she said. “He played a major role both when she colicked and when she had her hamstring injury. He’s been involved in every step of the process.”

Saturday, May 9^th, Monomoy Girl put in a work together with multiple graded stakes winner Owendale (Into Mischief), clocking five furlongs in 59:4.

“It was a fantastic work,” said Cox. “She’s a really good work horse. Honestly, I think she’s moving as well as she’s ever moved.”

Long-time jockey Florent Geroux was up for the breeze and will also be aboard for Saturday’s start.

“She’s coming along very nicely,” Geroux said. “She’s very stable every week. We’re happy with her and are hoping she can run back to her winning ways of when she left.”

Both Crow and Cox give credit to owners Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin, Mike Caruso, and Stuart Grant for sticking with their mare through these setbacks.

Crow said, “I remember thinking [after the hamstring injury], are they going to retire her? But they are game. To have a filly that’s a champion, that’s worth a lot of money in the sales ring, and to say ‘we’re not going to sell her, we’re going to try again even though the odds aren’t in our favor,’ I think that’s pretty cool.”

“The owners have never quit believing in her,” Cox added. “And neither have we. But they know that I’m not going to run her if she’s not where she needs to be. They’ve trusted me and we work well together. She’s a fantastic filly. She’s a Champion.”

“I think it’s really important for racing fans to have something they can follow,” Crow said. “I’ll tweet a picture of her and it’s amazing the response you get. People really love her and I think the rivalry between her and Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) during her three-year-old campaign captured a lot of fans.”

“The ultimate goal would be to get her back to the Breeders’ Cup,” Cox said. “That’s a dream right now, and it’s a long ways off, but as long as she’s doing well, it’s something that hopefully it’s in the cards.”

Monomoy Girl has already visited Keeneland’s winner’s circle after claiming the GI Ashland during her three-year-old campaign in 2018.

As for Saturday’s start, a victory would push the champion past three million dollars in earnings and would mark her fifth win at Churchill.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, for sure,” said Crow. “The setbacks have been hard, but we’re all so excited that she’s back and I think it’ll be really meaningful to get to see her run, to see her back in the starting gate.”

The post Monomoy Girl Set to Return After Third Comeback appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article