Monomoy Girl refamiliarizes herself with Belmont Park in breeze for Ruffian Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. - Monomoy Girl won the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park as part of her championship 3-year-old season in 2018, but she has not been back at Belmont since. Saturday morning, Monomoy Girl got reacquainted with the Belmont main track by working a half-mile in 49.28 seconds in preparation for a start in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Ruffian Stakes.

Heavy rain Friday night left the Belmont main track in a sealed, sloppy state early Saturday morning. That prompted Monomoy Girl’s connections to push the work back from 6 a.m. to 8:45 in hopes of getting a drier surface.

The track was harrowed but still listed as muddy following the renovation break, but the work went on as scheduled.

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With jockey Javier Castellano aboard, Monomoy Girl worked in company outside of the multiple listed stakes winner A Bit of Both. Monomoy Girl started a half-length behind A Bit of Both and was on even terms by the quarter pole. Though she held her head high in the stretch, Monomoy Girl completed her final quarter in 24.44 seconds while finishing even with A Bit of Both. Monomoy Girl galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.83. It was the first time she ever breezed at Belmont.

Though Florent Geroux is Monomoy Girl’s regular rider and will be on her back next Saturday, Castellano was filling in for the work.

“I was outside, keep track of the other horse because the key was to maintain a good work,” Castellano said. “I heard she has a tendency past the wire to stop, but not today. She worked really, really good today.”

Dustin Dugas, trainer Brad Cox’s New York-based assistant, said all the major work for this race was done at Churchill Downs. Monomoy Girl shipped in early because there was a flight Wednesday from Kentucky that brought, among others, the Cox-trained Warrior’s Charge to New York for the Met Mile.

“Went through the breeze great, well in hand,” Dugas said. “Monomoy Girl galloped out really well. Javier was happy with it. This was just to get a nice little maintenance breeze over this track - let her see it again. She hasn’t seen it since 2018.”

Monomoy Girl has won 10 of 12 career starts, including five Grade 1 stakes. She missed her entire 4-year-old season as she suffered from a severe bout of colic and then a pulled gluteal muscle.

Monomoy Girl returned to the races on May 16 with a 2 3/4-length allowance win going a one-turn mile over a sloppy Churchill Downs surface. The Ruffian is also run as a one-turn mile.

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Among those expected to run against Monomoy Girl are Afleet Destiny, Piedi Bianchi, and Vexatious. Mother Mother and Overheated are possible.

Piedi Bianchi, who won the six-furlong Correction Stakes at Aqueduct in March, worked five furlongs in 1:03.43 over the Belmont training track on Saturday.

Entries for the Ruffian will be taken Wednesday.

- additional reporting by Mike Welsch