Monomoy Girl Focused in Churchill Downs Work

Leave Monomoy Girl to her own volition and the multiple grade 1 winner has a tendency to let her mind wander. It is a habit she's had for some time and one her connections say helped contribute to her defeat via disqualification in the Sept. 22 Cotillion Stakes (G1) against rival Midnight Bisou.

With her expected start in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) just three weeks out, trainer Brad Cox is making sure the leading sophomore filly in the country has her focus on point. After a slower-than-usual workout last week when sending her out solo, Cox put Monomoy Girl in company Oct. 13 and got the desired result when she registered a bullet five-furlong move in 1:00 at Churchill Downs.

As regular rider Florent Geroux guided her through her paces, Monomoy Girl registered splits of :24 2/5 and :36 2/5 and galloped out to six furlongs in 1:13 1/5. It was a markedly different move that her Oct. 6 effort, when this year's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner went a leisurely half mile in :51 2/5.

"We weren't looking for much last week at all. It was just an opportunity for her to stretch her legs," Cox said. "We really weren't wanting to go quite as slow as she went last week, but it was all good. She was obviously solo last week, no company, so we put her back in company this week and we were looking for a lot more, and she gave it to us.

"It was a really good move. She put her workmate away at the eighth pole, and there were some horses working in front of her and she was definitely a little more focused. Sometimes she does lose focus when she gets clear of other horses—I think she showed that in the Cotillion. Unfortunately, that was in a race, but she does that sometimes working as well where if no one is in front of her, she'll kind of start wandering around and pull herself up. But much, much better today as far as the breeze."

Cox said next weekend will bring Monomoy Girl's most serious work, as she readies to face older females for the first time, but added that he couldn't have asked for a more textbook outing than the one he got from the daughter of Tapizar  Saturday.

"She'll have something stern next week but … this breeze today was really solid," Cox said. "If you go out in 1:13 on this track, it's a solid move."

Joining Monomoy Girl on the worktab was Godolphin's multiple group 1 winner Thunder Snow, who got reacquainted with the track that was host to his infamous meltdown during the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). The son of Helmut went five furlongs in 1:04 3/5, his first timed move since finishing second in the Sept. 29 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park.

"He just had a nice, building work all the way through," said Tommy Burns, traveling manager for trainer Saeed bin Suroor. "It was his first major bit since (arriving from) Belmont, so we didn't want to overdo it. We're pleased with what he's done today. Mentally, he's settled in really good. Once he does a piece of work, you'll see his next work will be sharper.

"At Belmont, we were very pleased with him. He needed that race badly. He just got tired. He's improved from that race mentally."

A top-level winner at ages 2, 3, and 4, Thunder Snow captured the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) at Meydan this March, and Burns said the consensus among his camp is that dirt is indeed his most preferred surface.

"Dirt, definitely the dirt," Burns said. "Even in Dubai, it took him two or three races to get him 100% fit. He's just a lazy horse, and you have to keep on top of him. He needs his work. But he's improving."