Demoiselle: Unbeaten Muhimma yet another rising star for Cox

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In the 2-year-old filly division this year, trainer Brad Cox has sent out Immersive to a 4-for-4 record, including three Grade 1 wins, and Good Cheer to an identical 4-for-4 mark with two stakes triumphs.

But wait, there’s more.

Saturday, Muhimma will try to keep her 2-for-2 record unblemished while joining her stablemates as a stakes winner when she headlines a 10-horse field in the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle at Aqueduct.

Muhimma, a daughter of Munnings, could not have been more visually impressive winning her maiden by 7 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs on Sept. 20 and her first-level allowance condition by 5 1/2 on Nov. 1. In the allowance, she never felt jockey Florent Geroux’s whip and was taken in hand late.

Her gallop-outs past the wire have indicated that stretching out to 1 1/8 miles shouldn’t be an issue. And though she is by Munnings, Cox has felt two turns is what Muhimma is seeking. She is out of the Tapit mare Princesa Carolina, a multiple route winner, albeit on turf.

“She certainly looks like she’s meant to be two turns, she acts like she’ll go two turns based on how she trains. I think she’s got a big future,” said Cox, who enters the weekend with 62 stakes wins in 2024, 32 in graded races, both second to Chad Brown.

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Florent Geroux rides Muhimma from the rail.

Ballerina d’Oro, trained by Brown, has made her first three starts on turf, winning a maiden race in her second start before finishing eighth, beaten three lengths, in the Grade 2 Jessamine. Brown was pointing Ballerina d’Oro to the Tepin Stakes on turf in November, but has liked what’s he seen from the filly in her workouts on dirt enough to give this a try. In addition to the surface switch, Brown is also adding blinkers to the filly’s equipment.

“I normally don’t make multiple changes at once going into a race – blinkers and running on the dirt,” said Brown, who has 65 stakes wins, 47 graded, entering the weekend. “This horse I was always planning on putting blinkers on her after her last start. The more I started to train her towards the Tepin Stakes I got a pretty good view of her galloping out a lot stronger on the dirt than she was this summer. Worth a shot.”

Dylan Davis rides Ballerina d’Oro from post 10.

Beauty Reigns, a daughter of Into Mischief, won her debut by a half-length going 6 1/2 furlongs for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Beauty Reigns is out of Ilsa, who comes from the family of Grade 1 winners Life Is Sweet and Sweet Catomine.

“She’s got the strength and pedigree on the bottom side,” Mott said.

Liam in the Dust rebounded from a tough trip in the Grade 1 Alcibiades to run second to Muhimma in the Nov. 1 allowance.

Fortuna Mia and Five a Side finished fourth and fifth behind another Cox 2-year-old filly, Stunner, in the Tempted Stakes here on Nov. 2.

Carmen’s Candy Jar, Michelle, Bless the Broken, and Tip Line complete the field for the Demoiselle, which offers qualifying points (10-5-3-2-1) to its top five finishers for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks.

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