The Monomoy Girl ($160.000 Purse)
CD- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
June 18, 2022
On Saturday at CD, a new stake will be run, The Monomoy Girl, sending three year old fillies a little over a mile on the main track. For now, the race is ungraded, but offers a purse higher than some Grade 3’s, so it has certainly made a positive first impression. There are six fillies in the race that will look to hold the distinction of being the race’s first ever winner, and since this is the spot where I would talk about past winners of the race, we’ll have to settle for a shorter introduction and get right to the field. Here they are!
#1- Olga (Arindel, ridden by C J Hernandez)- This one has probably been slower to get going than the trainer would have liked, given that she took seven starts to break her maiden. He obviously had high aspirations by nominating her in the $500.000 Fifth Avenue well before winning for the first time. She’s never been bad, but began to become a beaten highly bet favorite several times. Since winning, she’s gone back to her ways of being good, just not a winner. If she eventually figures it out, her career could take off. I have to say, though, that I feel this race lacks that go-to horse, so this might be a spot for her to get that breakthrough win.
#2- Tell Milady (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R J Santana Jr)- Did the opposite of Olga in a way, winning the first two starts of her career, but since then has not had a return trip to the winners circle. She’s consistent, and has never failed to collect some part of the purse in a race, but it has not been the winners share for a while. Regularly nominated in stakes, and did run third in the Grade 1 Starlet in December. So, while her and Olga may have started their careers off a lot differently, they’ve become similar in that you feel they could break out at any time.
#3- Clumsy Jean (Night Rider Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Broke her maiden on New Year’s Day at FG, but that would not be an omen, as of yet, for more wins in 2022. In six starts, that FG race remains her only victory. Her last two starts have seen her be a non-factor, especially in the Grade 2 GP Oaks in April. Perhaps the slop that day was an excuse, but she did not follow that up in an unofficial stake otherwise known as a $127.000 N1X allowance right here last month. Speed figures suggest she should be getting better results, but I’m not won over on her.
#4- Jinxed Artist (Smokey Stover, ridden by J Talamo)- Her dam, Jinxed Queen, was very successful on the track and has already produced two very good foals. Jinxed Artist hopes to be the next in line in that regard and makes her stake debut here in the Monomoy Girl. She’s won two of seven, with each of the victories coming at TUP. She took on tougher company in her last outing last month at GP, and finished third. Worked well coming into the race, giving her the chance to run here.
#5- Woketard (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Hopefully this filly will not be offended by my calling out her maiden status, but when you’re 0-for-8, it’s hard to have a lot of confidence in you. The trainer certainly believes in her, and I would want to draw comparisons to her and Olga, but she has not really been close like that one has been. I will have to pass, maybe she’ll surprise me. This field is wide open, so I think that anyone in this field could step up.
#6- The Secret Is Out (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Gutierrez)- In December, this filly won the $60.000 AZ Juvenile Fillies Stakes. That may not intimidate the field, but because of that, she needs to carry two more pounds than everyone else. She is the only horse in the field that has won more than twice, and actually won the first three starts of her career. That brought her into the stake ranks, where she was humbled twice. Recovered decently in optional claimers and hopes for a better run at this level here.
Prediction: 1-2-4-6
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
