Uncle Sigh Preps for Haskell at Monmouth
The road to the William Hill Haskell Invitational kicks into high gear Sunday as Monmouth hosts the Grade 3 Pegasus Stakes, a prep for the $1,000,000
centerpiece of the racing season on July 27.
Sunday’s mile and a sixteenth Pegasus has drawn Uncle Sigh, whose last
outing was in the Kentucky Derby, and Encryption, who broke his maiden
here on May 24.
Conditioned
by Gary Contessa, Uncle Sigh led at the half mile pole in the Kentucky
Derby, but was ultimately bested by California Chrome. He has
since been training at Belmont
Park, and will ship into Monmouth on race day. In his most recent work, Uncle Sigh breezed five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 on June 8.
“I freshened him up a little bit since the
Derby,” Contessa said, “and he’s been maturing very forwardly. He’s had some great works.”
A
3-year-old colt by Indian Charlie out of Cradlesong, Uncle Sigh will
break from the rail as he seeks the winner’s share of the $150,000
purse.
Contessa believes that the Pegasus will play out differently than the
Kentucky Derby did for Uncle Sigh.
“I didn’t want him to be on the lead in the
Derby,” said Contessa. “I wanted him
anywhere but on the lead, but I think the tone of this race works very
well for him. I think there’s enough speed in here, and breaking from
the rail, he can
find comfort behind the leaders. I expect him to be stalking the
leaders, but ultimately he’ll be wherever Bravo (Jockey Joe) decides he
wants him to be.”
One of the speed horses Contessa believes might go to the lead is Encryption. Conditioned by Kelly Breen, Encryption went wire-to-wire in his last outing on May 24, besting the field by 2 ½ lengths in a maiden special weight event in only his second career start.
“Encryption is a big, strong, talented colt,” Breen said, “and we don’t think that we’re throwing him to the wolves in this race. We hope that he’s a stakes horse and we think that he’s a stakes horse, but we’re behind the 8-ball in his 3-year-old career. Everyone has high hopes for the horse, and hopefully he fits in here.”
A
son of Exchange Rate out of Mystic Soul, Encryption and a field of six
other 3-year-olds will contest the Pegasus. Breen hopes that Encryption
will be able to get to the lead, but believes that he will be prepared
if he cannot.
“There’s more speed than I wanted there to be,” said Breen, “but we’ve trained him to sit behind horses. He’s taken dirt. He didn’t have to do it in his first race back, but we’ll leave it up to Paco (Jockey Lopez) to determine what he’s going to do.”
Although neither colt has a stakes win on its record, both trainers have high expectations and hope to see their horses run in the July 27 William Hill Haskell.
“This race is going to tell me if we want to go to the Haskell,” Contessa said, “that’s for sure.”
As for Encryption, Kelly Breen said, “We’re going to try to get him into some of the bigger races at the end of the year if he’s that caliber. If he can get up to the level of the Haskell, that would be great.”
The Pegasus is set to go as race 11 on Sunday’s 12-race card.