The Breeders’ Cup post position draw was unkind to a number of the top choices, including Cavorting in the Filly & Mare Sprint.
When all was said and done, the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee had drawn the outside spot in the full field of 14, and she'll have her work cut out for her to get position in a short run to Keeneland's somewhat tight first (and only) turn in the seven-furlong sprint. Cavorting comes into the Breeders' Cup on a three-race win streak, thus earning her 3-1 favored status in the morning line. Jockey Irad Ortiz knows his filly well, having ridden her in all of those wins, and when the gates fly open he'll have to be making some tough choices as to how much of her he wants to use getting good position.
That being the case, the door has perhaps opened a crack for others to get through, and someone looking for an upset at a price might want to look toward Taris, 12-1 in the ML and breaking from gate 3. Although lacking the consistency factor of Cavorting, the four-year-old has a pair of graded-stakes victories in her eight lifetime starts, most significantly in her only try on the Keeneland surface, when she won the (G2) Raven Run, setting a track record despite winning by an easy nine lengths.
Another worth considering in the exotics is Super Majesty (10-1), a daughter of former Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver. Although she only just moved up to the graded-stakes ranks in her fourth lifetime start, she won the (G3) Dogwood at Churchill going wire-to-wire, running a sizzling 45.5 first half mile in the process. Not to be overlooked is defending champ Judy The Beauty (6-1), who has been coming up just short in three tries this year, but likely still has something left in the tank.
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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