Monomoy Girl edges Wonder Gadot in Kentucky Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Before Friday, Monomoy Girl had not faced a more prolonged nor important duel. So when Wonder Gadot moved boldly to engage her for the stretch run of the 144th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, the moment of truth had arrived.

“She’s a great filly, and she showed it today,” said Brad Cox, the trainer of Monomoy Girl. “It’s just a tremendous victory for everybody involved with this filly.”

Always among the front flight in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks after breaking cleanly from the outside post in a full gate of 14 3-year-old fillies, Monomoy Girl emerged the victress by a half-length following a dramatic battle inside of Wonder Gadot, giving Cox, a Louisville native, the greatest triumph of his career.

Florent Geroux was aboard Monomoy Girl, who finished in 1:49.13 over a fast track and returned $7.20 as second choice. Midnight Bisou, the 2-1 favorite, was another 3 3/4 lengths back in third, with Eskimo Kisses another half-length back in fourth.

Before an ontrack crowd of 113,510 on a mostly cloudy and warm afternoon, Take Charge Paula sped to the early lead, with Geroux subtly moving over from the outer post to assume a favorable stalking position aboard Monomoy Girl. Suddenly, by the three-eighths pole, and without urging, Monomoy Girl had opened a clear advantage over her Cox stablemate, Sassy Sienna, but then an outside rush from Wonder Gadot made it a two-horse race as they left the quarter pole. Geroux put his mount to a fierce hand ride while delivering her several sharp strokes of a left-handed whip, giving the French native his first win in the filly classic.

“The filly was sharp early and I just hustled her out of the gate to get a good position,” said Geroux. “From there, I was pretty confident. You can get after her too much and she stops. I kept hand-riding her and she pulled away at the end.”

Velazquez, the jockey of 16-1 shot Wonder Gadot, claimed foul, saying Monomoy Girl interfered with his mount by knocking her off balance when they made light contact. But it was to no avail, as the stewards ruled no change in the order after reviewing the replay for several minutes.

“Down the lane, I had a head in front of the other horse the whole time and I’m fighting with [Geroux], fighting with him,” said Velazquez.

Monomoy Girl, from the first crop of the young sire Tapizar, now has won 6 of 7 career starts, with her lone defeat coming here last fall in the Golden Rod Stakes to Road to Victory, trained by Mark Casse. Ironically, Casse is the trainer of Wonder Gadot, who was coming off a nose defeat to Sassy Sienna in the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park nearly three weeks ago.

“The filly that won today is a super filly,” said Casse. “That said, I’m very proud of our filly. She has a lot of heart.”

Monomoy Girl was originally owned by the Monomoy Stables of Sol Kumin before three other entities – Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables – bought into her. After starting her career by winning two races on turf in September, she won an ungraded stakes on the Churchill dirt prior to Road to Victory slipping past her for a neck upset in the Golden Rod.

Given a little time, Monomoy Girl emerged as a top Oaks contender upon her return by winning the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds and the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, flaunting a brilliant turn of foot that once again showed itself Friday in the most important race of her career.

“She did everything like clockwork, in her training and her works,” said Cox. “You never know when there’s that first huge challenge like she got today, but when that other filly looked her in the eye, she had the right answer. I couldn’t be prouder of her.”

After the top four, the order was Chocolate Martini, Sassy Sienna, Coach Rocks, Kelly’s Humor, Heavenhasmynikki, Classy Act, My Miss Lilly, Patrona Margarita, Rayya, and Take Charge Paula. Among those most compromised was Rayya, a 9-1 shot who broke very slowly to lose virtually all chance.

Midnight Bisou, well back most of the way after somewhat of a troubled start under Mike Smith, was never a real threat to the top pair.

“I don’t know if the bad start cost me the race, but it cost me enough,” said Smith.

Cox, who was down to just a two-horse stable when losing a major client nearly six years ago, has been the leading trainer at a number of major race meets in the Midwest over the last couple of years, including the September and fall meets at Churchill in 2017. The first Grade 1 victory of his career came with Monomoy Girl in the Ashland.

“This has been unbelievable,” said Cox, who now has well more than 100 horses in his care. “I’ve got to thank my clients and staff and everyone who has supported me. It’s just awesome.”

Monomoy Girl, a chestnut Kentucky-bred, was produced by the Henny Hughes mare Drummette. She earned $564,200, bringing her career bankroll to $1,120,750. Cox said he will consider all options, including the major New York races starting with the June 9 Acorn, with the ultimate goal being a return to Churchill for the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

The $2 exacta (14-5) paid $96.80, the $1 trifecta (14-5-10) returned $181.20, and the $1 superfecta (14-5-10-13) was worth $1,387.40.

Attendance was fifth-largest in Oaks history.

– additional reporting by David Grening