BY MONMOUTH PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)

OCEANPORT, NJ—There was nothing subtle about the instructions that trainer Kathleen O’Connell gave to jockey Cipriano Gil before he rode Gerrards Cross for the first time in Sunday’s $100,000 Monmouth County Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Go to the front and let her do what she does best.

Gil did exactly as told, cruising to a two-and-a-half-length victory aboard James Chicklo’s homebred Gerrards Cross in the five-and-a-half-furlong grass feature for 3-year-old fillies.

The out-of-state stakes win by Florida-bred Gerrards Cross also produced a $4,000 Export Incentive for Chicklo as breeder paid by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association. 

“It was an awesome performance by her,” O’Connell said. “It was truly what I expected. She’s been training like a monster. Her last race she shipped and ran well (second, beaten a neck in the Stormy Blues Stakes at Laurel) and just got beat off a (five-month) layoff. Walking out of the stall I was a little nervous about the heat and humidity and the possibility of rain but she ran up to expectations.”

The winning time was 1:04.55.

For Gil, a native of Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, who has been riding in the United States since 2023, it marked his second career stakes win from more than 1,300 starts. He won the Showing Up Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Nov. 1, 2025 with Florida-bred Souper Forces.

“It was my first time riding her but I was very confident because Kathleen O’Connell told me she has been training great and she expected a big effort from her,” Gil said. “She’s a fast filly and she loves the turf at Monmouth. The plan was to go to the front. It’s easy there with not having to constantly push. She does it naturally. She was relaxed the whole way.”

 

A chestnut daughter of Midshipman, Gerrards Cross is now three-for-six lifetime with a second and earnings of $167,800. She is two-for-two on the Monmouth Park grass course after winning the $112,000 Colleen Stakes there last July in a nearly identical fashion.

Sent off at 2-1 in the reduced field of five, Gerrards Cross has won her only two career stakes races at Monmouth Park.

“Hopefully, Monmouth Park writes another race for her,” said O’Connell.

Gerrards Cross paid $6.40 to win. Spinelli, chasing the winner the whole race, was second. It was another half-length back to Tap Into Grace in third. Carolyncaroline and Echo Juliet completed the order of finish. Dancingwithdestiny, Florida-bred Niche, Quality of Essence and Victory Music were scratched.

Gerrards Cross is out of the Conerto mare Spanish Concert, who was trained by O’Connell, won the 2017 Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and earned $237,365 for Chicklo. Spanish Concert has produced four winners from five starters and six foals including stakes-placed Florida-bred Dream Concert, by Jess’s Dream. She has a yearling colt, Ciccaglione, by Connect and a weanling colt, Spanish Violin, by Mendelssohn. Both Ciggaglione and Spanish Violin were bred in Florida by Chicklo.

–Brock Sheridan contributed to this story

Return to the July 3 issue of Wire to Wire