Monomoy Girl returns in allowance after 18-month layoff

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Illness and injury were mere bumps in the road for Monomoy Girl, whose long-awaited return to racing will come Saturday at Churchill Downs.

“We sure didn’t expect to be away this long with her,” said trainer Brad Cox, who will saddle Monomoy Girl for a race for the first time since she clinched a divisional Eclipse Award by winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill in November 2018. “We’re very excited to see her back in action.”

Monomoy Girl, with Florent Geroux back to ride, will break from post 2 in the fourth of 11 races, an $85,000 allowance going a one-turn mile. Now 5, the daughter of Tapizar has been on a steady workout schedule since late February. Monomoy Girl arrived Tuesday at Churchill after training the last several weeks at Keeneland.

“You never know until they run, but she’s given us every indication she’s the same horse,” Cox said.

Owned by a four-way partnership, Monomoy Girl has been a winner since debuting in September 2017. She has finished first in all but one of her 11 starts (and was disqualified to second in another), with the 2018 Kentucky Oaks and BC Distaff foremost among her winning efforts.

Monomoy Girl was supposed to return to the races in the spring of 2019, but a serious bout with colic sidelined her. She then was scheduled to return for a fall campaign, but a pulled gluteal muscle in September further delayed her. Cox eased her back into training over the winter at Fair Grounds before moving her to Keeneland ahead of the coronavirus shutdowns.

“It’s a real credit to the owners that they didn’t retire her,” Cox said. “They’re sportsmen who love racing. Hopefully, she’ll reward all the patience they’ve shown and this race will be the first step in another successful campaign for her.”

The comeback spot on the spring meet opener doesn’t look all that simple. Among her six opponents are Talk Veuve to Me (post 6, Ricardo Santana Jr.), a graded winner making her first start since being purchased at auction last fall for $1.3 million, and Lady Kate (post 7, Jose Ortiz), already a two-time allowance winner this year.

Post time for Monomoy Girl’s race is 2:32 p.m. Eastern. Three other allowances are carded later in the day. All three drew oversubscribed fields, and all are links in the late multirace wagers, including the 20-cent Single 6 jackpot wager that spans races 6-11. Here’s a quick look at each:

Race 8 (4:40): Cox and Geroux will team with the lukewarm 4-1 morning-line favorite, Limnery, an Artie Schiller colt who’s among a multitude of logical contenders in a wide-open cast of 3-year-olds and up. The $81,000, first-level allowance is scheduled for a mile on turf.

Race 10 (5:44): The Churchill program lists a pair of 4-1 co-favorites, Portrait and Miss T Too, followed closely by two others at 9-2 (Mo City and Four Graces) in this $81,000, first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs. Those bunched-up odds tell the story.

Race 11 (6:16): Trainer Wesley Ward holds a strong hand in this $84,000, open-conditioned turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies with his uncoupled duo of Karak and Chili Petin, both easy last-out winners at Turfway Park.

Two maiden specials (races 5 and 7) and an open $50,000 claimer (race 9) also are part of a loaded opener.