Champion Immersive to Make 3YO Debut in Monomoy Girl

The star of her division last fall, 2-year-old champion filly Immersive  is finally set to make her 3-year-old debut June 14 at Churchill Downs in the $175,000 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes.

"Physically she's grown, filled out a bit," trainer Brad Cox said. "We love what we've seen from her in her works leading up. It's hard to say, 'Is she better?' when she won three grade 1s last year, but I'm optimistic and hopeful that she will take a step forward and be competitive with these good 3-year-old fillies."

The undefeated Nyquist   filly towers over her five rivals for the 1 1/16-mile contest in terms of career accomplishments. However, Immersive has not raced since her Nov. 1 triumph in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar after bone bruising knocked her out of training at the start of the year.

The Godolphin homebred returned to the work tab May 2 and has pleased her connections so far. However, Cox knows there are bigger targets down the road.

"It's a good race to get her started. I don't feel like she's fully cranked," he said. "I think she's fit enough to get a run into her. Hopefully it's a steppingstone to get her back into the 3-year-old filly grade 1 division."

Despite having the reputation as an undefeated champion, Cox said he doesn't feel too much pressure to get her in the winner's circle immediately off the bench, rather being more concerned about getting what she needs out of the race to aim for races like the Coaching Club American Oaks Invitational (G1), Alabama Stakes (G1), and Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

"It's one of those things where she is undefeated, and we'd love to keep her that way, but (the Monomoy Girl) isn't the goal," Cox said. "This is just a step toward getting back to the 3-year-old filly grade 1 level and, hopefully, the Breeders' Cup."

That could open the door for an upset. On paper, the most likely to do that are the pair of fillies exiting the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1): grade 1-placed Take Charge Milady  for trainer Kenny McPeek and owners James Ball, Magdalena Racing, and Kenneth Rhodes, and grade 2-placed Anna's Promise  for trainer Carlos David and Bell Racing.

Stakes winners Running Away  and Princess Aliyah  also join the field while Minnesota Munny  makes her first appearance at the level off a Delaware Park allowance optional claiming win.