The Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park has lured a classy group of 6 stars on Sunday and it is taking the shape of a rerun of the Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will head the cast, but the Kentucky Derby place and show runners, Exaggerator and Gun Runner, all will greet the starter.
Mother Nature just may raise her head. The weather forecast is predicting wet weather to the tune of 58% and it may fall right into the wheelhouse of the Preakness Stakes hero Exaggerator, who adores wet tracks.
The Haskell has always held a special place in my heart since I used to watch steeplechase racing on the grounds of Amory L. Haskell, whom the race was named after.
Back in those days an annual trek to the Middletown, New Jersey property was both an eye opener and an education. Being impressionable, the site of seeing people milling around drinking champagne, bookies meandering through the crowd, seeing limousines with chandeliers, was unforgettable for this teenager at the time.
The $1 million Grade 1 9-furlong Haskell has been won by some legends over the years. I bet on the 1971 winner West Coast Scout and for a 19-year-old punk, the $200 wager was huge.
Coastal won the battle 8 years later, Holy Bull heard the roar in 1994 as did the Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem in 2002, opening the door for Derby winner Big Brown down the line.
Last year, American Pharoah was coming off about a 2-month layoff and there were a few anxious moments in his Haskell as he tracked the leader for 3-quarters of a mile before asserting himself and drawing off to win by 2 and a half length’s with. It was a career best of 109 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will break from the advantageous rail. He has not been seen in the afternoon since a pop-and-stop effort in the Preakness. The rider Mario Gutierrez may have been fooled a bit in the Preakness and Nyquist got involved in a speed duel with a 34-1 shot and just had nothing left when the real racing began.
If a rerun of the Kentucky Derby is going to materialize, it would mean that Nyquist will be forwardly-placed running either first or second early on. Nyquist has shown he can handle a good surface and he is coming to this race on the top of his game.
Nyquist is not always a willing working, but I had the fortune of watching his mile workout last Sunday and it was visually impressive. He was working in company with a 2-year-old and was only shown the whip once in the stretch. He got the mile drill in 1:39.40 and he did it well within himself.
Nyquist’s trainer Doug O’Neill is on record as saying, “I think we’re where we were going into the Derby.”
Gun Runner also would not mind if there is a rerun of the Kentucky Derby as far as pace is concerned. The son of Candy Ride was in a great spot in the Derby running third early. He put his head in front at one point, but the distance of a mile and a quarter was too much for him. This colt returned in mid-June and won a Grade 3 race in a canter at Churchill Downs.
Sunny Ridge will break outside of Nyquist. He has the benefit of winning at Monmouth Park twice, the last in a mile stakes last year with a 76 Beyer Speed Figure.
Awesome Slew and American Freedom have each raced 4 times. The former has won twice, the latter has won 3 times. American Freedom looms the more dangerous of these runners.
American Freedom is trained by Bob Baffert, who not only trained American Pharoah in this race last year, but he has had great success in the Haskell over the years. He has won this fixture a record 8 times.
On the extreme outside is Exaggerator and for him to take advantage of a rerun of the Kentucky Derby his backers have to hope the pace is wild and the leaders melt.
Exaggerator’s appearance in the Haskell was a late decision. He was aiming for the Jim Dandy at Saratoga, but had not trained great over that surface. It’s possible his trainer Keith Desormeaux clicked on the Weather Channel, saw the clouds predicted over Monmouth Park, and pulled the trigger.
Exaggerator’s issue is that he will concede possible double-digit lengths early on and in order to prevail, he will have to move earlier to avoid a rerun of the Kentucky Derby when he ran out of real estate.
The feeling is if Nyquist breaks sharply, he will control the pace and the outcome but he must set realistic splits.
Good luck.
