Two of the leading female dirt horses in North America, Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver, recorded workouts at Churchill Downs Oct. 24 before a potential meeting in the Nov. 7 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland. Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, covered six furlongs in 1:12 4/5, while Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Swiss Skydiver went four furlongs in :47 4/5.
Monomoy Girl is a planned Distaff starter for trainer Brad Cox, while Swiss Skydiver will be pre-entered in both the $2 million Distaff and $6 million Longines Classic (G1), according to her trainer, Kenny McPeek. Since the Preakness, McPeek has at times suggested the Distaff is the more likely race for the Peter Callahan-owned 3-year-old filly.
"After pre-entries are available, Mr. Callahan and I will discuss together," McPeek tweeted Oct. 24. "Same approach we took in her last race. We will get clarity then."
Here she is in all of her morning glory @ChurchillDowns, 2020 Preakness (GI) winner Swiss Skydiver for @KennyMcPeek. š
— TwinSpires Racing š (@TwinSpires) October 24, 2020
The new Starlet will look to battle against the Old Guard in the Breedersā Cup Distaff (GI).
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Pre-entries will be released by Breeders' Cup officials Oct. 28. Final entries for a specific race are made the following week.
Jockey Robby Albarado, aboard for Swiss Skydiver's workout, intends to remain a regular partner aboard the Daredevil filly as she continues her Breeders' Cup preparation.
"I'm going to gallop her the last five days before the race as I did at Pimlico," he said. "We're going to see how she's doing and make a decision (about the Classic or Distaff) from there."
Monomoy Girl, a 5-year-old Tapizar mare owned by Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables, was one of five possible Breeders' Cup starters who worked for Cox on Saturday. Under regular pilot Florent Geroux, Monomoy Girl outworked stablemate and graded stakes winner Owendale.
Have a look at her final work beneath the Twin Spires @ChurchillDowns. Monomoy Girl (outside) of stablemate Owendale for @bradcoxracing preps for the Breedersā Cup Distaff (GI).
— TwinSpires Racing š (@TwinSpires) October 24, 2020
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"Anyone you put with Monomoy, she seems to always outwork them," Geroux said. "She's worked with a lot of really good horses in the past, and Owendale is a really good horse. She just always gets the better of them."
"There's not much really to say about her other than she's just really, really, really good right now," Cox added. "We'll see what the future holds for her, but as a 5-year-old she's showing how mature she's become."
Other Breeders' Cup horses who breezed five furlongs Saturday for Cox included Arklow (:59 3/5, Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, G1T); Knicks Go (1:00 1/5, Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile, G1); Beau Recall (1:03 4/5, FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, G1T), and Factor This (1:02, Breeders' Cup Mile, G1T).
A couple of leading male contenders for the Classic also tuned up. By My Standards zipped five-eighths in a bullet :58 3/5, Global Campaign went a half-mile in :48, and Tom's d'Etat covered six furlongs in 1:12 4/5.
"Some really good horses look like they're coming together (for the Classic), and horses that have beaten us," said By My Standards' trainer, Bret Calhoun. "Tom's d'Etat beat us. I have a ton of respect for him. Maximum Security hasn't done anything wrong in his career. It's a top group of horses that we'll have to turn the tables on them."
Tom's d'Etat, away since a troubled third-place effort in the Whitney Stakes (GI) at Saratoga Race Course in early August, heads into the Breeders' Cup after a short layoff.
Future @WinStarFarm Stallion Tomās DāEtat (outside) of his stablemate Oak Hill (inside) gets his morning workout in @ChurchillDowns for @gmbracing before heading into Breedersā Cup Classic (GI)
— TwinSpires Racing š (@TwinSpires) October 24, 2020
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"My gut feeling said to go into the Classic fresh anyway, and when the last round of stakes races came out, I didn't like the way they were placed, so we stuck with the plan to train up to the race," trainer Al Stall said.
Other Breeders' Cup horses who worked Saturday at Churchill Downs were Simply Ravishing, Crazy Beautiful, Spanish Loveaffair, and Sally's Curlin.
Starting Oct. 30 at Churchill Downs, there will be a special training period for Breeders' Cup contenders from 7:30-7:45 a.m. ET. The reserved session is scheduled to run through Nov. 4.
Busy Breeders' Cup Work Tab at Keeneland
At Keeneland on Saturday, trainer Jose D'Angelo was all smiles after Grupo 7C Racing Stables' Jesus' Team walked off the track following a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 4/5 in preparation for the Dirt Mile Nov. 7.
"It was a good work, and he will come back again next Saturday and work a half-mile," said D'Angelo, a 30-year-old native of Venezuela.
Jesus' Team has been at Keeneland for two weeks, following his third-place finish in the Preakness that gave D'Angelo his first taste of an American classic.
Also breezing Saturday toward a possible Dirt Mile start was Calumet Farm's True Timber , who covered five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 for trainer Jack Sisterson.
Recording workouts for another Breeders' Cup race was Paul and Karen Eggert's Ollie's Candy. The Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) runner-up went five furlongs in :59 for the Distaff.
"She got over the track really well and galloped out well," said her rider, Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler.
Ollie's Candy is cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect to Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale as part of Book 1, which opens the auction Nov. 9. She is Hip 83 as part of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.
Leyva said two other Sadler Breeders' Cup hopefuls, Higher Power (Classic) and Chaos Theory (Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, G1T), are scheduled to work Sunday. A fourth Sadler runner, Flagstaff, is expected to arrive later from California for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).
Another runner who has spent much of her career on the West Coast, Bellafina, went five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 in preparation for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). She races for Kaleem Shah, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.
Second in the race last year to champion Covfefe, Bellafina is trained by Simon Callaghan, who is also likely to run Alice Bamford and Tabor's Harvest Moon in the Distaff and Shah's Madone in the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). Both are expected to arrive at Keeneland Oct. 26.
