Monomoy Girl Heads Field of Seven for Saturday’s $500,000 Central Bank Ashland

By Amy Owens —-

Clickhere for the TOYOTA BLUE GRASS (G2) WEEKEND microsite, which includes information about the Central Bank Ashland (G1).

Clickhere for a video of today’s Post Position Draw for the Toyota Blue Grass (G2) and Central Bank Ashland (G1).

Monomoy Girl Heads Field of Seven for Saturday’s
$500,000 Central Bank Ashland

LEXINGTON, KY (April 3, 2018) – Monomoy Stables, Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables’ Monomoy Girl has been installed as the 4-5 favorite in a field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered Tuesday for Saturday’s 81st running of the $500,000 Central Bank Ashland (G1) at Keeneland.

The 1 1/16-mile main track test offers 170 points toward the $1 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) to be run May 4 at Churchill Downs with 100 going to the winner, 40 to the runner-up, 20 to third place and 10 to fourth. The Oaks is limited to the top 14 point earners that pass the entry box and currently the cut line is 21 points.

The Central Bank Ashland, one of five graded stakes races Saturday, will go as the ninth race on the 11-race program with a 5:45 p.m. ET post time. First post time Saturday is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Brad Cox and to be ridden by Florent Geroux, Monomoy Girl has won four of five career starts. In her lone 2018 outing, she won the Rachel Alexandra (G2) at Fair Grounds on Feb. 17. Monomoy Girl’s only defeat was a runner-up finish by a neck in the Golden Rod (G2) in November at Churchill Downs.

Monomoy Girl will break from post position one.

Second choice on the morning line at 2-1 is Magdalena Racing, Gainesway Stable and Harold Lerner’s Eskimo Kisses. Runner-up in the TwinSpires Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in her most recent start on March 24, Eskimo Kisses will break from post position two. She is trained by two-time Central Bank Ashland winner Kenny McPeek and will be ridden by Corey Lanerie.

Lanerie is one of five riders to have won the Central Bank Ashland three times. A victory Saturday would make him the first to win the race in three consecutive years. Lanerie won with Hooh Why in 2009, Weep No More in 2016 and Sailor’s Valentine in 2017.

Other graded stakes winners in the field include Craig Upham’s Patrona Margarita and Don Alberto Corp.’s Andina Del Sur.

Trained by Bret Calhoun, Patrona Margarita won the Pocahontas (G2) in September at Churchill and did not return to the races until February when she finished fourth behind Monomoy Girl in the Rachel Alexandra. Patrona Margarita will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. and break from post position three.
Trained by Tom Albertrani, Andina Del Sur will be making her main track debut Saturday. Winner of the Florida Oaks (G3) in her most recent start, Andina Del Sur has raced exclusively on turf in her four-race career. Julien Leparoux has the mount and will break from post position five.

The field for the Central Bank Ashland, with riders and morning-line odds, from the rail out is: Monomoy Girl (Geroux, 4-5), Eskimo Kisses (Lanerie, 2-1), Patrona Margarita (Hernandez Jr., 15-1), C. S. Incharge (Luis Saez, 10-1), Andina Del Sur (Leparoux, 6-1), Ipanema Beach (Chris Landeros, 20-1) and Tyfosha (Irad Ortiz Jr., 15-1). All starters will carry 121 pounds.

KEENELAND CARDS 11 RACES SATURDAY

Post time for the first race on all 16 days of Keeneland’s 2018 Spring Meet is 1:05 p.m. ET. On Saturday, Keeneland will run 11 races with the final race post time of 7 p.m. Approximate post times for the day’s stakes are Commonwealth (G3) at 4 p.m., Shakertown (G2) at 4:35 p.m., Madison (G1) at 5:10 p.m., Central Bank Ashland (G1) at 5:45 p.m. and Toyota Blue Grass (G2) at 6:23 p.m.
The Spring Meet concludes Friday, April 27, with racing on Wednesdays through Sundays.

LOWERED TAKEOUT, EARLY PICK 5

Keeneland has lowered takeout for the 2018 Spring Meet, with pricing on win, place and show wagers decreasing from 17.5 percent to 16 percent and from 22 percent to 19.5 percent on exactas. Takeout for the Pick 5 is 15 percent. Takeout for all other exotic wagers remains at 22 percent.

New this spring is an Early Pick 5 with its own carryover provisions separate from the Late Pick 5.
 
OTHER APRIL 7 WAGERING OPPORTUNITIES
All-Stakes Pick 4 Presented by TVG. A $400,000-guaranteed Pick 4 featuring races 7-10: the Shakertown (G2), Madison (G1), Central Bank Ashland (G1) and Toyota Blue Grass (G2).
All-Stakes Pick 5 Presented by TVG. A $300,000-guaranteed Pick 5 featuring races 6-10: Commonwealth, Shakertown, Madison, Central Bank Ashland and Toyota Blue Grass.

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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. As the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, Keeneland conducts sales every January, September and November. Its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. In 2015, Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses, and it has donated millions of dollars in charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more about Keeneland, visit Keeneland.com.

Cover Photo: Monomoy Girl; Hodges Photography