April 17, 2021 
“I bought the best in the world,
…with apologies to songwriter Frank Loesser, lyricist for “Guys and Dolls”
Her name is Monomoy Girl,
I’m sure Swiss Sky-div-er’s gonn-a fail,
Can do,
Can do,
I’m sure that the mare can do,…”
Like many of her fans, I’ve waited for weeks for Monomoy Girl lease shares for her 2021 racing season to become available through MyRacehorse.com
After selling at auction to Spendthrift Farm for a mind-boggling $9.5 million at last fall’s Fasig-Tipton sale, it was assumed the multiple G1-winner with a perfect 4-0-0 record last year including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff would be retired to Spendthrift to begin broodmaring little Monomoy girls and boys.
With a career 15: 13-2-0 record at the time that included a controversial disqualification to declared winner Midnight Bisou in the 2018 Cotillion (G1) and a lone two-year-old loss on the track by a neck to Road To Victory in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in 2017, there seemed few worlds left to conquer for the dual Eclipse Award-winning mare (Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, 2018; Champion Older Mare, 2020), already having pocketed over $4 million in earnings.
But Spendthrift shocked the racing world (though not this writer who predicted it, writ with a touch of pride) by announcing she would race in the 2021 season. As with Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic victor, Eclipse Award-winning Champion Horse of the Year Authentic, now retired to stud at Spendthrift, MyRacehorse.com would again partner with the same farm to offer microshares in the wildly talented and popular mare. She now races in its distinctive black-and-white silks.
Still under the care of trainer Brad Cox, the now six-year-old daughter of Tapizar (out of Drumette by Henny Hughes), Monomoy Girl picked up where she left off, winning the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) on a rain-soaked sloppy Oaklawn dirt track Feb. 28.
That race was a tune-up for what many expect to be her greatest challenge to date, this afternoon’s $1 million Apple Blossom (G1), also on the dirt at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16–mile contest for older females will see a return match between the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and Eclipse Award-winning Three-Year-Old Filly Swiss Skydiver, along with four other entrants, including dangerous five-year -old multiple graded-stakes winner Letruska (17: 12-1-1).
The daughter of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver ridden by reigning Eclipse Award Champion Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Letruska is expected to set the early pace with Robby Albarado on Swiss Skydiver close behind. As is his usual custom, jockey Florent Geroux will likely run off the pace on Monomoy Girl while remaining in striking distance.
Trainer Ken McPeek says his charge, Swiss Skydiver, has been running “like a beast.” But bettors are giving the daughter of Daredevil (out of Expo Gold by Johannesburg) only a 4-1 chance of besting Monomoy Girl, who will leave her favorite post, the outside gate #6, at even 1-1 odds.
Racing fans will recall Monomoy Girl snared a decisive victory over her rival in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff when Swiss Skydiver stumbled out of the gate and could not successfully challenge the winner. It was later determined she had suffered minor leg cuts when she stumbled.
That’s all to say about the weekend’s most anticipated race.
So, what about my own “purchase?”
Shares to “lease” Monomoy Girl became available to those who expressed early interest during a three-hour window that began Thursday. The initial price was $46 a share. That share represents a .005 investment in the divisible profits to MyRacehorse from her 2021 winnings.
It should be noted Monomoy Girl still is owned in part by Spendthrift and several other partners. So the winnings to be divided among share leasers (we’ll get to that) will come after expenses are deducted and the remaining profit is divided among all the owners according to their ownership percentage.
Sorry to be so wonky here, but this agreement is a bit different than the one for Authentic offered last year. That agreement was said at the time to extend to shareholders into his stud career.
The deal for Monomoy Girl will apply only to her 2021 racing season, hence a seasonal “lease,” not a long-term “purchase” in Securities & Exchange Commission language, which agency authorized the trading just as it does with any publicly traded stock.
I did the math and settled on only one share. There were two reasons for that.
Firstly, I’m not much of a bettor and, while I love Monomoy Girl, the larger the investment, the greater the rooting interest. For me, that ruins watching a great race.
Secondly, if you do the math, it’s obviously easier to recoup your “investment” with a single share and, as I noted, I’m not in it for profit.
Here’s a theoretical example. Let’s say you cut her lifetime earnings in half to approximately $2.25 million after expenses and assume that sum could be divided up among lease holders. A .005 percentage of that is $112.50; .01 percent, double that sum. But that assumes she’ll win $4.5 million in one racing year—her lifetime earnings—with half split among shareholders.
Oh, and I should mention, the earnings in her winning Bayakoa will be included in the eventual distribution.
The limit was two shares because of the hoped-for high and broad level of interest. The goal of MyRacehorse and Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes from the partnership’s inception has been to broaden interest in Thoroughbred racing to include a younger and more varied demographic by offering microshares in chosen Spendthrift-owned (so far) horses.
Think of it as buying the jersey of your favorite sports team.
The somewhat unpredictable success of Authentic has only encouraged the partnership and heightened interest. Turf specialist six-year-old mare, Mark Casse-trained Got Stormy will also be available soon at an expected $45 offer price for a .05 percent share of the divisible earnings, a bit less than half the current price of a share in Monomoy Girl.
As for Monomoy Girl, the racing goal here can’t be more obvious—perhaps two or three more races of the high-purse variety, then a likely challenge to the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 6 at Del Mar. That possibility certainly should stir interest. And increase the payout considerably if she won, not only covering your investment, but generating an even tidier profit. Last year’s Classic winner, Authentic, went home with a generous $3,120,000 in his saddle bag.
Now, as of this writing, shares were still available at the original asking price. You do have to set up an account, the hope no doubt being you will invest any profit in future offerings. Do read the current offering with care and invest wisely if you choose.
And no, don’t ask for them if and after she wins the Apple Blossom later today…
…I’ll probably have already leased your share.
You go, Monomoy Girl!
