Monomoy Girl has fine Oaklawn start

Monomoy Girl, under jockey Florent Geroux, makes her way across the wire to win the Grade 3 $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park Sunday, Feb. 28. - Photo courtesy of Oaklawn/Robert Yates
Monomoy Girl, under jockey Florent Geroux, makes her way across the wire to win the Grade 3 $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park Sunday, Feb. 28. - Photo courtesy of Oaklawn/Robert Yates

HOT SPRINGS -- The best usually find a way.

At least for now, there is no doubt the best female horse running is My Racehorse Stable's, Spendthrift Farm's, and Madaket Stable's Monomoy Girl.

Off at 1-5 in her first career start at Oaklawn, Monomoy Girl, ridden by Florent Geroux and trained by Brad Cox, was in third through three-quarters of a mile but caught and passed Our Super Freak and Finite, the 7-2 second-choice, and gradually pulled away to a 2-length win over a sloppy track in the Grade III $250,000 1/16- mile Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mares 4 years old and up before an estimated crowd of 2,000.

"It's kind of a relief to get it over with," Cox said. "I was proud of her. She ran big."

Our Super Freak finished second, 11/4 lengths in front of third-place Finite, ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr., for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

Monomoy Girl followed Finite's lead through the opening quarter-mile in 24.60. Our Super Freak, a daughter of Mineshaft, ridden by David Cohen and trained Cherie DeVaux, was second in the field of six, 11/2 lengths behind Finite and 1/2 length in front of Monomoy Girl.

Those positions were unchanged through the half in 49.41 and three-quarters in 1:14.13.

From the start, Geroux kept Monomoy Girl, a 6-year-old daughter of Tapizar, wide off the rail, finishing in the middle of the track.

"It was a great trip," Geroux said. "It set up great from the start with the outside post and short field. I let the horse in front do the dirty work, and I just tucked in behind on the outside, which was the smart thing today with the track condition."

Monomoy Girl won the Eclipse Award as the 2020 older female champion.

The Bayakoa was Monomoy Girl's 6-year-old debut in the second season of her comeback career. As in her first run, interrupted for 18-months by colic and a pulled muscle, she has displayed a streak of top-level, class-packed excellence at least comparable to any since racing records were first kept.

In her career, begun with two turf races as a 2-year-old in 2017, Monomoy Girl has 15 starts with 13 wins and 2 seconds. She has crossed the wire first 14 times but was disqualified for interference in the lane and placed second in the Grade I Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in the early fall of 2018.

Monomoy Girl returned five weeks later to win the Grade I Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. She then missed all of the 2019 season and did not again race until May of 2020.

Cox said Monomoy Girl's troubles were, at times, career-threatening.

"It was always tough, but once we got her back, she acted like she was as good as she was," he said. "She's continued to show that this year, and we're very pleased to get her back running."

When Monomoy Girl returned, she was as good as ever. She followed an allowance win at Churchill with a Grade II win at Belmont Park in New York and a win in the Grade I La Troienne Stakes at Churchill on Sept. 20, 2020.

Nine weeks later, four years after her maiden win on the turf at Indiana Grand and five years after she was sold for $100,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Monomoy Girl again won the Breeders' Cup Distaff, this time at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

With her win on the slop at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, Monomoy Girl's career earnings reached $4,576,818.

"I'm the luckiest jockey in the world right now," Geroux said.

In two other stakes races on Sunday's 10-race card, Richard Porter's Windmill, ridden by Joe Talamo and trained by Larry Jones, won the $150,000 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in 1:11.14, and The Mary Rose, the 7-2 second-choice, won $150,000 1-mile-and-1/16th Downthedustyroad Stakes Arkansas-bred for fillies and mares 4 years old and up.

"She overcame a lot of bad training," Jones said of Windmill. "She's really nice."

John Ed Anthony's The Mary R0se, a four-year-old daughter of Macho Uno ridden by Martin Garcia and trained by Cox, was third, two lengths behind the leader at the head of the stretch, but passed Miss Antioch and Matapan to win by a 11/2 length.

"I had the best trip, just cruising around there," Garcia said. "When it was time to go, we just took off. Easy win."

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