On Friday at Del Mar, a field of eleven long-distance specialists will head to the gate in the 62nd running of the Cougar II Handicap. With Grade 3 status and a purse of $100,000, the race will be run at a mile and a half over the synthetic main track.
Sky Kingdom has been tabbed as the 5-2 morning line favorite for Bob Baffert, who saddled Richard’s Kid to victory in the Cougar II in 2012. Victor Espinoza will be back aboard after piloting the five-year-old son of Empire Maker to victory in his only other start this year, the American Flag Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 4. He will break from post position eight.
Tom Proctor and Joe Talamo will team up with Old Time Hockey, a five-year-old gelded son of Smarty Jones who will be trying synthetics for the first time. Installed at 6-1 on the morning line, the chestnut gelding has two wins from five starts this year, one on turf and one on dirt. He was last seen finishing fourth in the American Flag Stakes. Del Mar was the sight of his lone graded stakes win in the La Jolla Handicap (G2) in 2012.
Breaking from the outside is Irish Surf, a four-year-old son of top sire Giant’s Causeway out of champion mare. Elvis Trujillo will be back in the irons for trainer Dan Hendricks after being aboard for the first time in the Charlie Whittingham (G2) at Santa Anita where the pair finished fourth. The colt has yet to hit the board from four starts this year and is a longshot at 8-1.
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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