Cotillion or Alabama next for Monomoy Girl
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » With her smashing threelength win Sunday in the Coaching Club American Oaks, her fourth Grade 1 score of the year, Monomoy Girl has moved up to third in the NTRA’s weekly poll of top thoroughbreds, behind only Justify and Accelerate.
When was the last time a 3-year-old filly won four Grade 1s in a single year? Actually, Songbird did it just two years ago; her four wins included the Coaching Club and Alabama. In her quest for a fifth Grade 1, Monomoy Girl’s connections are reportedly considering the Alabama (on Aug. 18) and the Cotillion Stakes at Parx on Sept. 22, with the latter race the more likely choice.
There are at least three reasons why Monomoy Girl is more likely to end up running in the Cotillion. First, there’s the its fatter purse, $1,000,000, versus the Alabama’s “measly” $600,000.
Second is the timing factor. There are 11 weeks between the Alabama and the Breeders’ Cup, too many to suit some trainers – unless they plan to run in both the Alabama and Cotillion, as recent champions Blind Luck, Questing and Songbird did. The six-week interval between the Cotillion and Breeders’ Cup makes the former race more centrally positioned between the Coaching Club Oaks and BC Distaff.
The third reason why the Cotillion might be preferred is that it is contested at 8½ furlongs, while the Alabama is still run at 10 furlongs, as it has been for the past century. With the BC Distaff at nine furlongs, more horsemen would probably rather prep at 8½ furlongs than 10.
The Alabama is the only one of New York’s historic Grade 1 races for 3-yearold fillies (longer than a mile) that has not undergone changes in recent years. The Mother Goose was shortened from 9 to 8½ furlongs in 2010 and was downgraded to Grade 2 last year. The Gazelle was moved from its traditional spot at Belmont in the fall to Aqueduct in April; it was downgraded to Grade 2 in 2014.
The Coaching Club Oaks, which amazingly enough was still run at 12 furlongs as recently as 2003, was shortened from 10 furlongs to 9 in 2010, the same year it was moved from Belmont to Saratoga.
Accelerate possible for Whitney
When Californiabased trainer John Sadler scratched likely favorite Accelerate out of last Saturday’s San Diego Handicap (G2), it made the job easier for barnmate Catalina Cruiser who, well, cruised to a 6 ¾-length victory.
On Sunday, Sadler announced that he planned to send his two handicap-division runners down separate paths, with one headed to Saratoga for the Whitney (Aug. 4) and the other to the Pacific Classic (Aug. 18). Since a start in the Whitney would mean Catalina Cruiser would be running on only two weeks’ rest, one has to think Accelerate (who hasn’t raced since May 26) is more likely for the Whitney.
Either horse would be welcome for the $1.2 million race, which looks as though it will not be drawing an overpowering field. But Accelerate, a five-time graded winner who has a pair of Grade 1 victories in 2018 (the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita), would be the more welcome of the two.
Cherry Wine runs fifth in Monday’s fifth-race claimer
It’s been a long time between drinks for 2016 Triple Crown contender Cherry Wine, who attracted attention with his game runner-up finish behind Exaggerator (but ahead of Derby winner Nyquist) in that year’s Preakness and a respectable seventh in the Belmont.
Winless since taking an optional claimer at Gulfstream on Jan. 9, 2016, the 5-year-old son of Paddy O’Prado was put in for a tag for the first time in Monday’s fifth race, drawing into the field as an MTO entrant when the race was take off the turf.
Cherry Wine ran in midpack early before losing ground in the stretch and finishing fifth of six at 4-1. He was unclaimed at the $50,000 price.