Saturday guide: Salvator Mile, Delaware Oaks and more
Monmouth Park presents the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile and the listed Pegasus Stakes as part of its Haskell Preview day, a showcase of local preps for the track's signature event, the $1 million Haskell (G1) set for July 19. The Salvator Mile is open to three-year-olds and up while the Pegasus is for three-year-olds only. Both are run on the dirt.
The Salvator Mile attracted a field of nine older males searching for graded stakes glory, led by five-year-old Uncle Mo horse Bishop's Bay, who enters this race for Brad Cox off a score in the Westchester (G3) at Belmont at Aqueduct last out.
Tuscan Sky, a four-year-old colt out of the Todd Pletcher barn, returns to the scene of his last win, last year's Pegasus, to try and get back to his old form.
In the Pegasus, Chad Brown sends his highly-regarded Uncle Mo colt, Garamond, to take on the field of seven others. Todd Pletcher has the blue-blooded Valentinian in the mix as well.
Post time for race 8, the Pegasus, is set for 3:53 EDT. The Salvator Mile is race 10 on the card and post time is 4:55 EDT.
Free past performances for these and more top stakes are provided by Brisnet.
TV coverage of the Salvator Mile will be part of the regular Saturday broadcast on FanDuel TV. Select Monmouth stakes, like the Salvator Mile, will be part of NYRA's America's Day at the Races' on FS2, beginning at 12:30 EDT.
Here are the lifetime top speed figures for the Salvator Mile field.
| Post | Horse | Beyer* | TFUS* | Brisnet | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antigravity | 83 | 107 | 96 | 115 |
| 2 | Trademark | 87 | 118 | 103 | 113 |
| 3 | Tuscan Sky | 99 | 122 | 100 | 124 |
| 4 | Offaly Cool | 94 | 119 | 103 | 124 |
| 5 | Surface to Air | 93 | 116 | 99 | 124 |
| 6 | Vitality | 89 | 113 | 95 | 122 |
| 7 | Nelson Avenue | 101 | 121 | 109 | 156 |
| 8 | Awesome Ruta | 83 | 111 | 91 | 119 |
| 9 | Bishops Bay | 102 | 125 | 101 | 133 |
Pace makes the race
Look for a strung-out field in the first half-mile of the Salvator Mile, led by Nelson Avenue and Bishop's Bay from the outside. It will be a swift yet pressured pace with the fastest early runners all drawn next to each other on the outside. Look for the best performances from presser/stalker types, Trademark, Offaly Cool or Tuscan Sky.
HRN handicappers
Matt Shifman takes you through the Salvator Mile field horse-by-horse.
Another Midlantic track, Delaware Park, hosts the Delaware Oaks (G3) Saturday. Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman have analysis and plays for this contentious filly race in HorseCenter.
At Churchill Downs, Ed DeRosa has found a scratch from the Manhattan last weekend is the best play in the Chorleywood Stakes this weekend.
Eclipse and Breeders' Cup champ Immersive returns to action in the Monomoy Girl stakes at Churchill, where she faces six others including highly-regarded Take Charge Milady. Check out Ed's fair odds report on the race here.
With the 2025 Triple Crown in the rearview, the Ron Flatter Racing Pod takes a look at the future of Pimlico and the Preakness with new Maryland Jockey Club leader Bill Knauf. This in-depth chat goes into the plans for the new facility, where the next Preakness will be run, and what to expect going forward. Listen here.
Finally, the West coast stakes action at Santa Anita features the Daytona stakes, where Super Screener's Mike Shutty has found a very live long shot.
"I can't recall the last time the Super Screener landed on a 30-1 (morning line) shot as the top scoring horse, but that's exactly what we have to work with in this turf sprint affair featuring that right turn, left turn and dirt track cross-over journey," writes Super Screener handicapper Mike Shutty. "Watsonville offers more upside potential than do the group of much older horses in this field. He was gelded prior to this race and comes in with a bullet workout."
Get Super Screener analysis for the stakes at Monmouth, Delaware and Santa Anita this week, and top stakes every week, from now to Breeders' Cup!