Monomoy Girl likely to race twice more before Breeders' Cup Distaff

ELMONT, N.Y. – As Justify has established himself as the clear leader of the 3-year-old male division, Monomoy Girl has done the same in the 3-year-old female division. Unlike Justify, who has wrapped up a championship with his Triple Crown sweep, Monomoy Girl still has more work to do.

On Sunday, one day after winning the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park for her third consecutive Grade 1 victory, Monomoy Girl returned to Churchill Downs to prepare for a summer and fall campaign that is designed to end in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill in November.

Trainer Brad Cox said Monomoy Girl likely would have two starts before the Breeders’ Cup and is tentatively targeting the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 22 and the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 22.

“Hopefully, we’re working our way to a 3-year-old championship,” Cox said. ”She’s the leader, so now we’ll try to seal the deal.”

Monomoy Girl earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Acorn by two lengths over Talk Veuve to Me.

Meanwhile, Caledonia Road, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2017 who finished fifth in the Acorn, was to undergo diagnostic tests to see if there are any physical issues with her.

Asmussen weighs options for Bee Jersey

Trainer Steve Asmussen on Sunday was still savoring his first victory in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap with Bee Jersey and said he will take his time before mapping out a plan to get the 4-year-old colt to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Bee Jersey held off Mind Your Biscuits by a nose in the $1.2 million Met Mile for the colt’s first Grade 1 victory and his fourth win in as many starts this year.

Bee Jersey, who earned a 109 Beyer, returned to Churchill on Sunday, and Asmussen said he will evaluate the horse before making a plan with owner Charles Fipke.

It is noteworthy that this year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile will be a one-turn race, unlike in recent years, when it’s been run around two turns.

“Will we run in the Forego at seven-eighths [at Saratoga on Aug. 25] in a one-turn race according to how you’re doing, or will we actually run him farther in a two-turn race and back him into it distance-wise?” Asmussen said. “All of those things will be discussed, but the deciding factor will be how he’s training, how he’s feeling.”

Noting Bee Jersey’s final time of 1:33.13, Asmussen said, “Without being positive, I don’t believe I’ve had a horse run a mile any faster than he did.”

Trainer Chad Summers said Mind Your Biscuits came out of the race “great,” and he might consider running him back in the Belmont Sprint Championship on July 7. Summers did not rule out stretching Mind Your Biscuits out around two turns in a race like the Woodward on Sept. 1 at Saratoga.

“I can’t say that I don’t want to keep stretching him out, the way he ran yesterday,” Summers said.

Brown could have three for Diana

Trainer Chad Brown will have his choice from a bevy of talented older female turf runners for the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga on July 21.

A Raving Beauty added her name to that list with a three-quarter-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Just a Game, her second graded stakes victory in as many tries this year. A Raving Beauty earned a 100 Beyer.

“A Raving Beauty has gotten really good really fast,” Brown said. “She’s been a real fine addition to the barn.”

Brown said that jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. “should be given a lot of credit how he’s handled her. She can be a little headstrong. He’s gotten her to settle in both of her starts and then finish.”

Brown said Fourstar Crook and Sistercharlie, the 1-2 finishers in Friday’s Grade 2, $600,000 New York Stakes, also are candidates for the Diana, although the Grade 1, $600,000 Beverly D. at Arlington on Aug. 11 is another option for one of those two.