Brilliant racemare Monomoy Girl is set to make her reappearance at Oaklawn Park in the Bayakoa Stakes on February 15.
Brad Cox’s stable star won her second Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland in November, adding to her victory in the same race at Churchill Downs in 2018.
The daughter of Tapizar was forced to miss the whole of 2019, but has returned as good as ever and enters her latest season as a six-year-old having won 13 of her 15 career starts.
Spendthrift Farm purchased Monomoy Girl for $9.5million at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale the day after her Keeneland success and opted to keep her in training.
She is based at Fair Grounds and has undergone two workouts since rounding off her 2020 campaign – with Cox thrilled by her condition.
He said: “Honestly, with her breeze this past weekend, she’s probably a little ahead of schedule, as far as where I thought she would be. We never took her out of training. We just backed off of her. She’s as good as ever, to be honest with you. She’s a monster.
“She’s really training well. Looks amazing. Her weight’s great. Her breeze this weekend was spectacular. If we can continue to see that throughout the year, we’re going to have a great year again.”
Cox may have another star filly in upcoming Oaklawn action, with the Azeri Stakes on March 13 one of the options for Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil, who was last seen finishing third in the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland in October, after which she was given a break.
“Just kind of knocking the dust off of her,” Cox told Oaklawn publicity.
“She got a good break, a well-deserved break. No physical issues. Just thought she deserved some time. There was no sense going into the Breeders’ Cup. That was really the only thing left.
“I thought it was a wise decision by the ownership group to just give her the break. Our goal this year is to get her to the Breeders’ Cup in San Diego, at Del Mar.
“We’ll work our way back from that.”
