Girvin nips McCraken on the wire in the $1 million Haskell

In a thrilling three-way dash for the wire at Monmouth Park, Girvin edged McCraken and Practical Joke to win the Grade 1 betfair.com Haskell Invitational. After an uninspiring Jim Dandy 24 hours earlier, the three-year-old males needed a good one today, and they did not disappoint down on the Jersey Shore. A strong race on paper turned out to be that good and a little better, in what looked like the race of the year so far in America's glamour division.

Sent off at odds of 9-1, the Brad Grady owned and Joe Sharp trained Girvin was pegged as the sixth choice in a field of seven, in which every horse in the race came in as a graded stakes winner. Favoritism in the million-dollar race was contested between the undefeated Timeline and the New Jersey-bred Irish War Cry. Those two would also be part of a contentious early pace. 

Both Timeline and Battle of Midway broke a bit slowly from the gate, briefly leaving Irish War Cry and Practical Joke on the lead, but Battle of Midway quickly recovered and scooted up the rail to take lead as the Haskell field made their way to the first turn. Irish War Cry was in close contact with the front runner, and both Timeline, who went off the favorite, and Practical Joke were right behind. Meanwhile, Girvin was a bit farther back than is his norm, and was actually in last on the turn, while just behind McCraken and Hence.

Timeline was the first to make his presence felt, as he moved in between Battle of Midway and Irish War Cry, to make it a three-horse battle before they hit the backstretch. Practical Joke found a perfect stalking position in fourth, and about four lengths ahead of the trailing trio.

Timeline and Battle of Midway moved in tandem down the Monmouth backstretch in moderate early fractions of :23.93 and :47.34. Irish War Cry stayed just off the top two, as the field of seven made a gap of about ten-lengths front to back. That gap quickly dwindled, though, as McCraken and Girvin began to gear up.

First Irish War Cry, and then McCraken, moved boldly up to the leaders on the far turn, with the latter having the most momentum. As Battle of Midway and Timeline yielded from the pressure through three quarters in 1:11.25, it was McCraken who was taking command over a briefly stubborn Irish War Cry.

It looked like the Ian Willkes-trained McCraken might be home free when he put away the local favorite at the eighth-pole, but as he tends to do, he appeared to slow down just a bit after gaining a clear advantage. Girvin, on the far outside, and Practical Joke, in the middle were poised to take advantage.

As the wire approached, McCraken looked desperate to hold on with the two challengers quickly bearing down on him. He did have a little fight left in him for the last few yards, but Girvin, moving best of all, was not to be denied. The son of Tale of Ekati, being ridden for the first time by Robby Albarado, got up in the shadow of the wire to win the thriller of a three-horse photo by a nose.

McCraken was a game runner-up, and finished a half-length in front of Practical Joke, who could not quite keep up his momentum the last 20 yards. The final time for the nine furlongs over the fast main track at Monmouth was 1:48.35. “I’ve gotten beat in this race too many times, it’s great to finally win it.  Point Given got me at the wire and then I had Curlin.  This is wonderful.

“McCraken got the jump on me and kept me inside, but my horse never lost momentum, so I wasn’t concerned," explained Albarado. "He’s really coming into his own right now. I worked him last week up at the Spa and he was sharp.  He showed that today.  When he got in the clear in the stretch he just kept coming and coming.  I was so impressed with what he did today and I think he’s just going to get better and better."

Irish War Cry faded late to be fourth, but was still clear of Timeline and Battle of Midway, with Hence bringing up the rear.

Bred in Kentucky, Girvin (Tale of Ekati--Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon) raised his career record to 7-4-2-0, with his only poor finish coming in the Kentucky Derby, a race in which he was recovering from a quarter crack on a sloppy racing surface. The winner of the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby earlier in the year raised his lifetime earnings to $1,574,400.

As the sixth choice, Girvin paid off his backers handsomely. He returned $20.40, $9.20, and $4.80 across the board. The $2 exacta with McCraken was good for $154.80, while the 7-5-4 trifecta returned $633.80.

In a bit of a twist of fate, Brian Hernandez, Jr. was the rider beaten by a nose today. He had been the regular rider of Girvin in his first few stakes wins before choosing McCraken over Girvin for the Kentucky Derby.

Today's victory by Girvin was his second straight nail-biting finish, having lost a heart-breaker to Irap last time in the Ohio Derby. That tough beat was more than forgotten today, though, as the three-time stakes winner threw his hat into the ring as a potential Eclipse Award winner. Girvin also punched his ticket to the Breeders' Cup Classic, by scoring in this 'Win & You're In' event.

“We talked after the Derby and we thought it was right by Girvin to give him a freshening," said Sharp. "We thought the Ohio Derby was a good spot for him and it was close to home. From his effort there, we thought he deserved a shot in the Haskell and a Grade 1. He was such a confident horse today. Well I’ll talk to Brad (Grady) and we’ll see how Girvin comes out of it, but the timing for the Travers is good. At this point, he has done everything we have asked him to do. With the win and you’re in to the Classic, the question with that is can he get the mile and a quarter. It would be most fitting based on his running style.They are all options and with our barn, we’ll ship anywhere. There is no telling where he will end up.”