Monomoy Girl took charge near the far turn, and the filly outdueled Wonder Gadot down the stretch to win the $1 million Kentucky Oaks by half a length on Friday at Churchill Downs.
A race expected to match the top two 3-year-old fillies in No. 2 Monomoy Girl and points leader Midnight Bisou, the morning-line favorites, soon became Monomoy Girl's to lose. The chestnut filly charged from the outside No. 14 post into contention and the lead and held ground in a thrilling side-by-side stretch battle with Wonder Gadot before Monomoy Girl kept the small edge to the wire.
Wonder Gadot's team filed a foul claim against Monomoy Girl for a bump down the stretch, but racing stewards dismissed the claim, giving Monomoy Girl its sixth win in seventh starts and trainer Brad Cox a signature hometown win in the 144th running of the Kentucky Oaks.
Ridden by Florent Geroux, Monomoy Girl covered 1 1/8 mile in 1:49.13 and paid $7.20, $4.60 and $3.60.
Wonder Gadot returned $14 and $7.20. Midnight Bisou finished third, paying $3.20 while having its three-race winning streak snapped.