Monomoy Girl Leaves No Doubt With Distaff Victory
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Monomoy Girl and Florent Geroux win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs
She had already whipped through all of her sophomore peers, systematically breaking their hearts with casual disdain. And while the record said Monomoy Girl was coming into the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) off a "loss," the fact remained that the daughter of Tapizar had yet to face a foe this year who could pass her on the square.
What Brad Cox's chestnut protégé hadn't done yet was step out of her division and see how her talent measured up against the older girls, some of whom already had Eclipse Award hardware to their name. Even with a veteran group doing their darnedest to get her to reach the bottom of her well, the story had the same conclusion it almost always has—Monomoy Girl in front at the wire, her rivals chasing in vain.
Monomoy Girl's reputation as the best sophomore filly in training can officially be replaced with the label of North America's best female dirt runner, period, after she rode a perfect stalking trip to a one-length victory over Wow Cat in the 1 1/8-mile Distaff Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
Based on top-to-bottom quality, the 11-horse Distaff lineup was one of the best on the Breeders' Cup card. It featured the last two Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winners in Monomoy Girl and 2017 heroine and divisional champion Abel Tasman. It had multiple grade 1 winner Midnight Bisou, whose résumé would be worthy of 3-year-old filly accolades in most years, and it had some seasoned top-level talents in Wow Cat, Blue Prize, and the recently resurgent Vale Dori.
Not shown in the past-performance lines are the factors that have made Monomoy Girl virtually unbeatable in her 11 career starts. Florent Geroux asserted this week he had yet to ask his equine partner for her all-out run in any race, and even though Midnight Bisou won their last meeting in the Sept. 22 Cotillion Stakes (G1) via disqualification, Cox had the comfort of leading over a horse whose only experience in 2018 had been of exerting her superiority.
"She ran the way she was training," Cox said. "She was training like a monster, and she ran like a monster. She is a special filly, one of a kind, an unbelievable filly."
Part of what makes Monomoy Girl so exceptional is her versatility. When she made her season debut in the Feb. 17 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2), she hit the gate at the start, dropped to last, and still rallied for a 2 1/2-length win. When she took the Kentucky Oaks, her tactical speed and Geroux's sharp handling allowed her to break from the far outside post and still get into ideal striking position by the time they reached the first turn.
The Distaff was almost a replay of her Oaks experience. Leaving out of post 11, she again was quick on the draw for Geroux and sat second just off pacesetter Wonder Gadot as those two led the procession around the clubhouse turn.
Monomoy Girl remained just off Wonder Gadot's hip as the latter cut fractions of :23.39 and :47.57. While she was giving Geroux the usual feeling of confidence he is accustomed to when they are paired together, Mike Smith aboard Abel Tasman was sitting to the inside in third hoping the hard work he had done to get her out of the gate and into the race was not for naught.
"It was a great trip. She was super sharp," Geroux said. "I was able to lay second off Wonder Gadot. I went to the lead past the three-furlong mark, and from there she just kept on going all the way to the wire. This is a filly with great tactical speed, and she loves to win. She's just unbelievable."
As they made their way into the far turn, Wonder Gadot gave it up on the front and started her retreat as Monomoy Girl began putting the touches on her coronation. A mild challenge from Blue Prize to her outside loomed a brief threat, but Monomoy Girl opened up by 1 1/2 lengths in the stretch and had plenty left as Wow Cat made a determined surge in the final sixteenth.
"I think the post position hurt us," said jockey Jose Ortiz aboard Wow Cat. "I had to drop down to the rail, and that probably cost us two or three lengths. We only lost by one (length). She ran her race."
Midnight Bisou got up for third, with Blue Prize fourth. Abel Tasman faded to last in the field, the worst finish of her career—one that now might be over.
"She just quit. She just quit running," said Bob Baffert, trainer of Abel Tasman. "Sometimes they do that. I thought she was in a good spot, (Smith) got aggressive with her, but she just doesn't want to run anymore, it looks like."
The final time for the distance was 1:49.79 over a track rated fast.
Owned by Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables, Monomoy Girl improved her record to nine wins from 11 starts with $2,954,750 in earnings. She was bred in Kentucky by Frankfort Park Farm and Highfield Ranch out of the Henny Hughes mare Drumette, and was a $100,000 buy from Gainesway's consignment to the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by BSW Bloodstock agent Liz Crow.
"This is a special horse," said owner Sol Kumin of Monomoy Stables. "When you think about kind of going on a journey with a horse like this, the partners make a big part of it. You know, the four of us and our partners on a lot of horses together, we've had a lot of good ones and a lot of not good ones, and when you get one like this, you really learn to enjoy it and enjoy spending the time together."