Monomoy Girl Breezes Toward Ruffian at Belmont Park

Champion Monomoy Girl breezed a half-mile in company in :49.32 on a muddy Belmont Park main track July 4 in preparation for the $150,000 Ruffian Stakes (G2) there July 11.

Trained by Brad Cox for Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables, the 5-year-old Tapizar  mare worked in company with multiple stakes winner A Bit of Both and was timed in steady splits, caught galloping out five furlongs in 1:02 1/5.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano was aboard for the workout, filling in for regular pilot Florent Geroux, who will be at Belmont next weekend to ride the chestnut in the one-mile 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 (a) good mind. These good types of horses, they do that."

Monomoy Girl arrived at Belmont Park July 1 with Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) entrant Warrior's Charge, to prepare for her first graded race since capturing the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs in November 2018.

That win capped an Eclipse Award-winning season for Monomoy Girl which included grade 1 victories in the Central Band Ashland (G1) at Keeneland, the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, and the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Racecourse. The talented filly crossed the wire first—a neck in front of Midnight Bisou —in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing but was disqualified and placed second as the only blemish on her championship campaign as a 3-year-old filly.

After missing the entirety of her 4-year-old season due to physical setbacks, the chestnut returned to action on May 16 with a 2 3/4-length win in an allowance optional claiming race contested on a sloppy Churchill Downs main track.

Bred in Kentucky by FPF and Highfield Ranch, Monomoy Girl is out of the Henny Hughes mare Drumette. A $100,000 purchase by BSW Bloodstock agent Liz Crow from Gainesway's consignment 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 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 the meet's final day, July 12, before live racing shifts to Saratoga for the 40-day summer meet July 16-Sept. 7.