Immersive makes 3yo debut in (fittingly) Monomoy Girl
Churchill Downs stakes advance by publicist Kevin Kerstein (Coady Media photo of Immersive winning Keeneland’s Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades under jockey Manny Franco)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, June 7, 2025) – Godolphin’s undefeated 2024 Eclipse Award Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and Breeders’ Cup winner Immersive is set to make her 3-year-old debut next Saturday at Churchill Downs when she faces five rivals entered in the fourth running of the $175,000 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes.
Fittingly, the Monomoy Girl is named for Immersive trainer Brad Cox’s first champion. Monomoy Girl wasn’t a 2-year-old champion, but she was at 3 and 5. She also was Cox’s first Grade 1 winner (in Keeneland’s Ashland), the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup in 2018.
Run at 1 1/16 miles, the Monomoy Girl will be the fifth race on the 11-race card. First post is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the Monomoy Girl field scheduled to go to post at 2:46 p.m. Along with the Monomoy Girl, the card also includes the $200,000 Chorleywood (Listed) in Race 10 at 5:27 p.m.
Trained by Brad Cox, Immersive went to the sidelines with bone bruising following her 4 ½-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (Grade I) on Nov. 1. Prior to that start, Immersive won the Spinaway (GI) by 1 ½ lengths and the Alcibiades (GI) by 1 ¼ lengths. Jockey Manny Franco, who’s ridden immersive in each of her four starts, will have the return call in the Monomoy Girl and break from post No. 2.
The field for the Monomoy Girl also includes two fillies that made their last starts in the Longines Kentucky Oaks: Bell Racing’s Anna’s Promise (fifth) and James Ball, Magdalena Racing and Kenneth Rhodes’ Take Charge Milady (12th).
The Monomoy Girl field in order of post position (with jockey and trainer):
- Princess Aliyah (Nik Juarez, Wayne Lukas)
- Immersive (Franco, Cox)
- Anna’s Promise (Luis Saez, Carlos David)
- Minnesota Munny (Adam Beschizza, Kelsey Danner)
- Running Away (John Velazquez, Wesley Ward)
- Take Charge Milady (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek)
LOUISVILLE STAKES WINNER UTAH BEACH RETURNS FOR $200,000 CHORLEYWOOD – Recent Louisville Stakes (Grade III) winner Utah Beach is set to return to Churchill Downs and face a field of 10 turf specialists entered in next Saturday’s third running of the $200,000 Chorleywood Stakes (Listed).
The Chorleywood, named in honor of the Thoroughbred retirement farm located in nearby Prospect, Ky., is part of a stakes doubleheader Saturday along with the $175,000 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes. First post for Saturday’s 11-race card is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the 1 3/8-mile Chorleywood going in Race 10 at 5:27 p.m.
Utah Beach, owned by Jeffrey Amling and Merriebelle Stable, won the May 17 Louisville Stakes by 1 ½ lengths over Verstappen. Prior to that start, the 5-year-old son of English Channel was victorious in the Elkorn Stakes (GII) at Keeneland. Trained by Ignacio Correas IV, Utah Beach will be ridden by Vincent Cheminaud out of post No. 3.
Another accomplished horse entered in the Chorleywood is Susan and Jim Hill’s Highway Robber, who scratched from Saturday’s Manhattan Stakes (GI) at Saratoga in favor of this race. Trained by Brian Lynch, Highway Robber won the Sycamore Stakes (GIII) to close his 4-year-old campaign and, most recently, finished third to Spirit of St Louis and Mercante in the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (GI) on Kentucky Derby Day. Jockey Cristian Torres has the call from post 8.
The field for the Chorleywood from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Lord Bullingdon (Ben Curtis, Michael McCarthy)
- Tapit Shoes (Rafael Bejarano, Ed Moger Jr.)
- Utah Beach (Cheminaud, Correas)
- Rebel Red (GB) (Jose Ortiz, Cherie DeVaux)
- Goldeneye (Julien Leparoux, Kenny McPeek)
- Lambeth (Brian Hernandez Jr., Joe Sharp)
- Anglophile (Mario Gutierrez, Lynch)
- Highway Robber (Torres, Lynch)
- Verstappen (Frankie Dettori, Brendan Walsh)
- Sugoi (Luis Saez, Mike Maker)
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