Monomoy Girl, Midnight Bisou tangle in CC Oaks
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Opening weekend at Saratoga Race Course showcases a sizeable chunk of the best fillies and mares in the country. On Saturday, three of Daily Racing Form’s top four female turf horses went at it in the Diana Handicap (G1), with Sistercharlie getting up in the final jump to nail 15-1 longshot Ultra Brat at the wire.
Today the spotlight is on 3-year-olds in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), where oncebeaten division leader Monomoy Girl takes on her top challenger, Midnight Bisou, in one of the most anticipated match-ups of the meet.
Monomoy Girl, the 4-5 morning-line favorite, comes in off three straight Grade 1 victories in which the defeated horses included the four opponents she will face today. The daughter of Tapizar is a neck shy of being unbeaten in eight career starts, with a second in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) last fall the only blemish on her record.
Monomoy Girl’s career began modestly enough, breaking her maiden on turf at Indiana Downs. After one more start on grass, she was tried on dirt and hasn’t looked back. In her most recent score in the onemile Acorn Stakes, she showed a new dimension by racing behind horses much of the way before coming on late to triumph by two lengths. She will take some beating today.
Midnight Bisou (7-5) figures to provide the main competition. The Midnight Lute filly has been on a tear in 2018, winning four of five starts – including three graded races at Santa Anita, which included the Santa Anita Oaks. Her lone loss was a third behind Monomoy Girl in the nine-furlong Kentucky Oaks, a race in which she was floated wide on both turns. The Kentucky Oaks is run at the same distance as the Coaching Club.
Eskimo Kisses is next on the morning line at 6-1. The daughter of To Honor and Serve has run some strong races – she’s been in the exacta in six of eight starts – but has yet to be invited into the winner’s circle after a stakes. Her placings include a second in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and a (distant) second to Monomoy Girl in the Ashland,
Chocolate Martini (12-1) defeated Eskimo Kisses in the Fair Grounds Oaks, In her other inthe-money graded finish, the daughter of Broken Vow ran third in Santa Anita’s Summertime Oaks. The best stakes finish for Gio Game (10-1) was a third in the Acorn.
Queen’s Plate winner Wonder Gadot had reportedly been considered for the Coaching Club but will run instead in the Prince of Wales Stakes Tuesday at Fort Erie Race Track in Ontario. The Medaglia d’Oro filly is still possible for the Alabama on Aug. 18.