https://www.americasbestracing.internet/horses/wonder-gadotIdentified for her consistency, grit, and unmatched will to win, Monomoy Lady captured the hearts of racing followers world wide. Her 10 graded stakes wins, together with seven Grade 1s, not solely solidified her standing as one of many biggest feminine racehorses of her technology but in addition added a crowning achievement to an already illustrious profession. In a division loaded with proficient stakes winners, Monomoy Lady stood head and shoulders above all of them for 2 seasons, her two Breeders’ Cup Distaff victories defining a profession steeped in excellence.
Monomoy Lady’s pedigree shines purple with connections to the World Championships. Her sire, Tapizar, gained the Breeders’ Cup Grime Mile by 2 ¼ lengths in 2012 and her broodmare sire, Henny Hughes, completed second within the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile whereas logging 4 grades stakes victories at 2 and three. Henny Hughes additionally occurs to be the sire of Beholder, a three-time Breeders’ Cup winner herself, deepening Monomoy Lady’s pedigree connections to the year-end championship occasion.
Breeder Brendan Gallagher of Franklin Park Farm noticed Drumette in foal to Tapizar on the 2014 Keeneland November breeding inventory sale and picked her up in partnership with Michael Hernon of Highfield Ranch. The younger stallion began his stud profession at Gainesway Farm, the place Hernon served as director of gross sales for twenty-four years till 2020. The companions, together with Gallagher’s spouse, Olive, purchased Drumette for $75,000, and introduced her to Franklin Park, the place she foaled a chestnut filly within the wee hours of March 26, 2015.
The filly joined Gainesway’s consignment on the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale, the place she caught the attention of bloodstock agent Liz Crow. Appearing on behalf of a partnership that included Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Michael Cohen, Crow was in a position to safe the Drumette yearling for $100,000.
Kumin shared the origin behind the title of his future champion mare. Drumette’s filly got here to the races with the title Monomoy Lady after the Monomoy space of Nantucket, the place Madaket Steady associate Jim Carey lives and in honor of Carey’s spouse and daughters. Readied for the races by Louisville native Brad Cox, the promising prospect debuted at Indiana Grand (now Horseshoe Indianapolis) on Sept. 5, 2017, her 3 ¾-length win foreshadowing what was to return.
Grit and Glory
Cox introduced Monomoy Lady to Churchill Downs for the ultimate three begins of her juvenile season, profitable twice, together with her first stakes victory within the Rags to Riches Stakes in October. She completed second to Highway to Victory in her graded stakes debut within the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes, through which she was unable to carry off a strong rally from the eventual winner. Her 3-for-4 report made her one of many fillies to look at forward of the 2018 Kentucky Oaks.
Monomoy Lady began her 3-year-old season in Louisiana, the place she earned her first graded stakes win within the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes. A win within the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland gave coach Brad Cox his first Grade 1 earlier than she earned him a second within the Kentucky Oaks. There, she confronted a stacked area that included Surprise Gadot, who would win the Queen’s Plate later that season, and future champion Midnight Bisou. Monomoy Lady seized the lead on the far flip and dueled with Surprise Gadot down the stretch earlier than gutting out a half-length victory.
The second half of her 2018 season included Grade 1 wins within the Acorn Stakes and the Teaching Membership American Oaks; she then completed first within the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing however was disqualified to second after shedding focus and drifting in throughout the stretch, interfering with second-place Midnight Bisou. Monomoy Lady redeemed herself on the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, the positioning of her Kentucky Oaks win. As soon as once more, she met Surprise Gadot and Midnight Bisou, plus 2017 Kentucky Oaks victor Abel Tasman and Grade 1 Spinster Stakes winner Blue Prize, however had no hassle taking up from Surprise Gadot across the far flip and protecting the remaining at bay down the stretch. Kumin shared that it “was somewhat bit extra of a aid when she put a stamp on the top of her 12 months and gained that race.”
Kumin added, “She simply felt like she was the very best horse within the division. I believe we might have been actually disillusioned if she didn’t win. She simply appeared to be on the prime of her sport all 12 months.”
Her triumphant season earned Monomoy Lady the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly and introduced her a fan following that eagerly awaited what she would do at age 4. Nonetheless, her 2019 season was one beset by setbacks. First, colic delayed her scheduled spring debut. She returned to Cox’s barn in mid-July solely to pressure a muscle throughout a exercise, her connections opting to finish her 4-year-old season altogether.
At 5, Monomoy Lady discovered her elite kind once more, her consistency echoing her 2018 championship season. She began with a straightforward 2 ¾-length win at Churchill Downs in mid-Could after which earned her first graded stakes victory in additional than a 12 months within the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes at Belmont Park July 11. With an eye fixed towards one other Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she subsequent focused the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes on the COVID-delayed Kentucky Oaks undercard, defeating a area that included Horologist and Vexatious.
In early November, Keeneland performed host to a pandemic-quieted Breeders’ Cup, however that didn’t hold the celebs away. In her second Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Monomoy Lady confronted Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver; Dunbar Highway, the Delaware Handicap victor; and Beholder Mile winner Ce Ce.
Monomoy Lady bided her time on the surface in fourth till close to the highest of the stretch within the 2020 Distaff. She powered away to win by 1¾ lengths, her 4-for-4 season incomes Monomoy Lady a second Eclipse Award championship, this time as older dust feminine.
For Kumin, that second Distaff “was extra of a shock. It was clearly fairly cool as a result of after horses undergo accidents like that, they don’t all the time come again on the prime of their sport. It simply felt somewhat bit totally different. It felt somewhat bit much less pressured than the primary one did, which was fairly superior.”
Near the Coronary heart
Entered within the Fasig-Tipton’s 2020 November Sale, Monomoy Lady offered for a whopping $9.5 million to Spendthrift Farm. She returned to the racetrack for her 6-year-old season, racing for the partnership of MyRacehorse Steady, Spendthrift, and Madaket Stables and profitable the Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park earlier than ending second to Letruska within the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap. A sesamoid harm later that season prompted her retirement with 14 wins in 17 begins and $4,776,818 in earnings. She by no means completed worse than second.
Reflecting on Monomoy Lady’s place among the many stars that he has owned, together with 2018 Triple Crown winner and newly minted Corridor of Famer Justify, Kumin stated that “she’s within the prime group. For me, there are two fillies that stand above everybody else, and that’s Woman Eli and Monomoy Lady.”
Kumin defined, “I believe if you purchase them as a child, and if you title them, and once they run in your silks, all of these issues assist you to get even nearer to the horse.”
When requested what makes this twin Breeders’ Cup champion particular, Kumin pinpointed “her aggressive spirit. She favored to compete, she favored to battle, and she or he knew the place the wire was and would discover a approach to win.”
That spirit carried Monomoy Lady via the challenges of harm and introduced her again to the winner’s circle time after time, leaving racing followers all over the place with recollections of her grit and charm.
