Monomoy Girl Avoids Drama in Penultimate BC Work

Whenever trainer Brad Cox wants to ensure he gets the most serious version of Monomoy Girl in the morning, he puts the multiple grade 1 winner in company and lets her blood get pumping as brilliantly as it does when she's racing. For her penultimate move in advance of the Nov. 3 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), the daughter of Tapizar  had the aid of her workmate—and then some—putting a sharp edge on both her fitness and focus.

Despite catching some unanticipated added company just as she and stablemate Dazzling Gem were getting set to work, Monomoy Girl executed her five-furlong breeze without any other drama Oct. 20, covering the distance in 1:00 1/5 over the Churchill Downs oval under jockey Florent Geroux.

With Dazzling Gem traveling just ahead of this year's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner, Monomoy Girl and Geroux encountered an errant horse galloping along the rail and had to go around that one before hooking up with her partner. It was all workmanlike from there, with the chestnut filly clocking splits of :12 4/5, :24 3/5, :36 2/5, and :48 3/5 while galloping out to six furlongs in 1:13 2/5 over a main track that was playing on the slow side Saturday morning.

"Florent did a good job of figuring things out," Cox said of the unexpected early company. "There is a little more moisture in the track than we thought there would be, but she handled it really well. We worked several horses this morning, and it's kind of been back and forth with how they're handling it, but she's very consistent. She seems to work on all surfaces really well, and she did. She showed up again this morning, and this was a very good move."

Saturday's work was the third for Monomoy Girl since the Sept. 22 Cotillion Stakes (G1), where she crossed the wire in front of rival Midnight Bisou but was disqualified to second due to interference in the stretch. That technicality of a defeat was just the second blemish on Monomoy Girl's résumé from 10 starts, with her only other loss coming when beaten a neck by Road to Victory in the Nov. 25 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill.

The Cotillion outcome may have been a stinger for her connections, but they have plenty of positives to point to coming out of that day. She still has never been passed by a rival since her Golden Rod run last fall, and Geroux said he has yet to ask the filly he has guided to four grade 1 wins this year for her absolute best.

"She's sometimes too smart for her own good," Geroux said. "She's getting faster with races, and if she can just go straight and keep her focus to the wire, I think she would be undefeated for sure … because she never uses herself all the way to the bottom. She always has something left. That's why she always keeps on going. And that helps keep her sound, too."

Monomoy Girl was among a few Breeders' Cup hopefuls Cox sent out Saturday morning. Golden Mischief, winner of the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G2), went four furlongs in :50 3/5 in preparation for the Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), and likely Turf Sprint (G1T) contender Will Call got a half mile in :49 4/5.

Bucchero , who bested Will Call in the Oct. 6 Woodford Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G2T), also worked four furlongs, going in :48 3/5 under the watch of trainer Tim Glyshaw as he readies for a second try in the Turf Sprint. The son of Kantharos  was fourth in that race a year ago, beaten just a length by winner Stormy Liberal.

"The whole key to him is to get a good trip, and if he gets a good trip, he's always right there—whether right there is fourth in the Breeders' Cup by a length or winning," Glyshaw said. "Any time he's gotten a decent trip, he's always very close and in the mix. It doesn't really matter how fast he works, he goes out and runs anyway."

After watching grade 1 winner Promises Fulfilled make his half-mile work over a dead track look easy, trainer Dale Romans said the son of Shackleford  was "probably" going to start in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) rather than the Dirt Mile (G1). Robert Baron's chestnut colt was clocked for four furlongs in :48 flat after breaking off from the three-eighths. He will bring a three-race win streak into his Breeders' Cup outing.

"You have to think about the factors. The Sprint winner, unless it's a real longshot, will probably be Sprint champion even if we do win the (Dirt) Mile," Romans said. "We would like to be champion."

Following a 15th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Promises Fulfilled was cut back to sprint distances and has done nothing but thrive. He got his top-level win when he took the Aug. 25 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) and scored a gritty win over older horses Oct. 5 in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2) after setting a wicked pace.

"He's just a good horse. He's easy to train, easy to be around," Romans said. "And I could even see him coming back in the (grade 1) Cigar Mile (after the Breeders' Cup). No reason not to—he's that kind of horse."

Romans also worked Seven Trumpets five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 Saturday, adding that he is leaning toward the Dirt Mile for the son of Morning Line .

One who had been keeping an eye on where Promises Fulfilled was headed was Chad Summers, trainer and co-owner of multiple grade/group 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits. Summers confirmed Saturday that he will pre-enter the son of Posse in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and Dirt Mile, with first preference in the Classic—solidifying plans to further stretch out the richest New York-bred in history.

Mind Your Biscuits, back-to-back winner of the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) and top-three finisher in the last two editions of the Breeders' Cup Sprint, scored his first two-turn victory when he captured the Sept. 29 Lukas Classic Stakes (G3) over 1 1/8 miles at Churchill.