HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Monomoy Girl was named 3-Year-Old Filly of the Year at the 2018 Eclipse Awards, the annual event to honor achievements in Thoroughbred racing. Though she lost out on Horse of the Year honors to Justify, Monomoy Girl’s owners, Stuart Grant, Michael Dubb, Michael Caruso and Sol Kumin, couldn’t be happier with their prize filly – only the third filly to win both the Breeder’s Cup Distaff and the Kentucky Oaks in the same year.
Grant, who co-founded the law firm Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., bought his first racehorse in 2002. While he has had substantial success in the courtroom, Grant considers the Eclipse Award to be one of his proudest moments.
“Monomoy Girl has raw talent, but it takes an incredible team to get to this level. The Eclipse Award is a symbol of our collective work and dedication,” said Grant. “2018 was an inflection point in the sport for me. I made a strategic decision to trim my racing stock and focus on higher quality horses like Monomoy Girl through partnerships with friends like Michael Dubb, Michael Caruso and Sol Kumin. At the same time, through my home-breds and my training and breeding farms, I can still provide opportunities to up-and-coming talent within the sport.”
In addition to Monomoy Girl’s almost perfect season for trainer Brad Cox – she won 6 of 7 starts in 2018, with only a disqualification marring her perfect record – Grant’s racing portfolio also had some other significant wins throughout the 2018 season.
Thewayiam (FR) scored a hat trick of impressive Graded Stakes wins at Gulfstream Park and went on to be runner-up in the $1,000,000 G1 Belmont Oaks for trainer Graham Motion. Also at Gulfstream Park, Stormy Victoria (FR) won the South Beach Stakes on Pegasus World Cup Day for trainer Christophe Clement.
Other 2018 notables include Celestial Insight, a Graded Stakes placed daughter of the formidable Scat Daddy, Just Talkin, the full-sister to millionaire Lady Shipman, and Social Paranoia who finished his 2-year-old season with a 3rd in the G3 Pilgrim for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Grant says 2019 looks like it’s off to a good start with 3-year-old gelding Red Gum winning his 2019 debut in a MSW at Laurel Park. Monomoy Girl is back in training after taking a well-deserved rest in Florida. She’ll make her start this season in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn on April 14, 2019. Grant and two of his partners in Monomoy Girl, Sol Kumin and Michael Dubb, are also breaking in a crop of 20 promising two year olds and odds are there’s a star or two in the making who will debut under the colors of Grant’s racing stable, The Elkstone Group, later this year.
Grant’s home-breds, born at his C-Dog Farm in Chesapeake City, MD, are beginning their careers at The Camden Training Center in Camden, SC. He keeps a broodmare band of 25 and breeds both to race and sell at public auction.
Grant combines his love of horses with his strong belief in philanthropy. Through his I Could Do Great Things Foundation, each year Grant offers University of Delaware students a paid internship at The Elkstone Group’s training facility, Camden Training Center. This 10-week opportunity provides a hands-on look at the world of thoroughbred racehorses, and Grant hopes the experience will help nurture the next generation of veterinarians and turf professionals.
Grant retired from the law firm he founded, Grant & Eisenhofer, in September 2018. He has since co-founded Bench Walk Advisors, an investment advisor created and run by a unique combination of litigators and financial investment professionals which provides litigation financing to law firms and litigants throughout the U.S., UK, Canada and Australia.