Doug O’Neill will saddle Mrazek as the favorite at odds of 2-1 on the morning line. A chestnut son of Square Eddie, the colt is a homebred for Reddam Racing who also campaigned the Grade 1 winning sire. Mrazek broke his maiden in his career debut at Santa Anita as the favorite in a 5 ¼ length romp and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the Santa Anita Juvenile Stakes. Corey Nakatani will be in the irons and they will break from the rail.
Second choice at 5-2 on the morning line is Swipe for trainer Keith Desormeaux. A dark bay son of Birdstone, he will be trying to break his maiden against stakes competition and has been on the board in both starts to date. He debuted with a runner-up effort against maiden company and followed that up with a third-place finish in the Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park. Kent Desormeaux will be aboard and they will break from post position two.
Also in the field from the barn of Doug O’Neill is Ralis at odds of 3-1 on the morning line. Another son of Square Eddie owned and bred by Reddam Racing, he is taking on stakes company for the first time after breaking his maiden in his second career start last time out as the favorite over seven rivals. He was fourth in his debut. Mario Gutierrez will be aboard and they are scheduled to break from post position five as he goes for his second win.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
Haskell Invitational Picks for Monmouth Sunday
29 July 2016The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country....
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