Haskell: Contenders are fine-tuned for Saturday's contest
All was quiet Thursday morning on the Monmouth Park backstretch as the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes contenders continued their final preparations for Saturday’s $1 million race.
The 58th Haskell, at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds, headlines a 14-race card that features six stakes races, five graded. First race post time is noon EDT, with the Haskell scheduled for a 5:45 post time. NBC-TV will air the Haskell and the United Nations (G2) from 5 to 6 p.m.
Click here for Monmouth Park entries and results.
Dual Grade 1 and Preakness winner Journalism, who is the only horse to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year and was the runner-up to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, visited the paddock at noon to familiarize himself with the surroundings. Earlier in the day he was out on the track for an easy gallop under regular exercise rider Marc Witkowski.
“Everything’s great. All good,” said Justin Curran, the assistant to trainer Michael McCarthy, who is due to arrive Saturday morning to tighten the girth on the 4-5 morning-line favorite.
The Coolmore partners of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith bought a share of Journalism after co-owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners purchased the son of two-time horse of the year and Hall of Famer Curlin for $825,000 at auction as a yearling. Journalism will stand at Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky at the conclusion of his racing career.
Bridlewood Farm, Robert LaPenta and Elayne Stables Five complete the ownership group.
Goal Oriented, fourth last time out in the Preakness in his third career effort, galloped 1 3/8 miles, and groom Roberto Luna reported that the Bob Baffert trainee was hale, hearty, happy and healthy.
Jimmy Barnes, the top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer, was expected to arrive from California later in the day and will saddle the son of Not This Time on Saturday.
Goal Oriented will be ridden by reigning Eclipse Award winner Flavien Prat, who has been aboard in his last two races. The colt is the 4-1 second pick in the early wagering.
Lexington Stakes (G3) winner Gosger, second to Journalism in the Preakness in the last outing for both colts, galloped once around the oval in the morning, and his connections are pleased that he continues to thrive here.
Trainer Brendan Walsh is scheduled to arrive on Friday.
“We always thought that he would improve and get better with every race,” Walsh said. “We brought the horse along. He was a bit of a late starter. We took our time with him. We’ve always liked the horse but we knew we weren’t going to make the (Kentucky) Derby.
“We pointed him to the Preakness and it nearly worked out. I still don’t think we’ve gotten to anywhere near the bottom of the horse.”
Gosger is the namesake of former Major League baseball journeyman Jim Gosger. The obscure outfielder played for six teams between 1963 and 1974, including the New York Mets during the team’s World Series-winning season in 1969.
Owner-breeder Donna Clarke, the widow of noted horseman Harvey A. Clarke, is a lifelong Mets fan and through a random Facebook page became connected with Jim Gosger several years ago. They started corresponding and Clarke named this son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner for her online pal.
Wildncrazynight, who has been stabled on the backside since the start of the meet, would become only the second New Jersey-bred to stand in the Haskell winner’s circle since Thanks to Tony in 1980. Despite being tabbed as the longest shot in the field, a little home-field advantage might serve him well.
“He stood in the gate today like a champ. Everything is good so far. But it’s a tough, tough race. Not having to ship and getting to run out of his own stall in familiar surroundings will be an advantage,” said trainer Dan Ward, the former assistant to Hall of Fame trainers Bobby Frankel and Jerry Hollendorfer for four decades.
The son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and champion male sprinter Midnight Lute by the Wildcat Heir mare Proud to be Wild is a product of Everett “Ebby” Novak’s successful New Farm breeding program in the Garden State. Wildcat Heir was a Grade 1-winning sprinter.
When the operation was being dispersed, Staton Flurry, 34, of Hot Springs, Ark., stepped up to the plate. Wildncrazynight raced at Oaklawn over the winter and won a state-bred allowance race in his first start at Monmouth ON May 25. Next out he was the runner-up to fellow Haskell starter Bracket Buster in the Pegasus Stakes, the last of two local Haskell preps, on June 14.
Even though he finished seven lengths back, he didn’t throw in the towel.
“He didn’t quit. He tried,” said Ward, who gave regular rider Isaac Castillo the return call.
Ward also will run Majestic Oops in the $500,000 Molly Pitcher (G3) for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the undercard. Candied, Dorth Vader, Leslie’s Rose, Power Squeeze and Randomized are in the nine-horse field, and they all are Grade 1 winners.