On Saturday at Keeneland, the stakes action will continue with the $100,000 Giants Causeway Stakes. Scheduled to be run at five and a half furlongs on the turf, the stakes race has drawn an overflow field of fourteen fillies and mares.
Miss Matzoball has been tabbed as the morning line favorite at odds of 3-1 for trainer Roy Lerman. A four-year-old daughter of Smoke Glacken, she has been on the board in seven of her ten starts and is trying to earn her fourth victory. She is coming into this race off of two consecutive wins at Gulfstream Park and earned her first black type win last time out. Javier Castellano will be back aboard and they will break from post position five.
Second choice at morning line odds of 7-2 is Jewel of a Cat for trainer Carlo Vaccarezza. A six-year-old daughter of Wildcat Heir, she is a multiple stakes winner and has seven total victories. She has been third in all three starts this year and was last seen finishing behind Miss Matzoball. Paco Lopez will be in the irons and they are scheduled to break from post position six.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 6-1 is Miss Ella for trainer Graham Motion. A four-year-old daughter of Exchange Rate, she is a homebred for Jack Swain, III and has won three of her seven starts. She has been on the shelf since finishing tenth and last in the Raven Run Stakes (G2) last fall and has clocked a recent bullet workout. Drayden Van Dyke will be aboard from post seven.
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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