On Sunday at Saratoga, a field of six of the top three-year-old fillies in the country will compete in the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks. Contested at a mile and an eighth, the Grade 1 event is the second jewel of the Triple Tiara.
Favored at 8-5 on the morning line is Stopchargingmara, a three-year-old daughter of Tale of the Cat owned by Repole Stable. Trained by Todd Pletcher, she will have regular rider Javier Castellano aboard after the pair delivered by a neck in the Black Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at Pimlico in May. She will break from the inside and clocked a bullet workout on July 14 in preparation, completing four furlongs in :47 4/5.
Second choice at 9-5 is Unbridled Forever, a homebred daughter of Unbridled’s Song for Charles Fipke out of Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever. Trained by Dallas Stewart, she will again be ridden by Joel Rosario after a third-place finish in the Acorn Stakes (G1) in June. She has two wins from six starts and is competing for her first graded stakes victory.
Also in the field is the high priced and underachieving Miss Besilu, tabbed at 6-1 on the morning line. A $2.6 million purchase as a weanling, the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro has won two of her seven starts and is still in search of her first stakes victory. She was last seen finishing second in an optional claiming race at Belmont in June. Jose Lezcano will be back aboard for Bill Mott.
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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