You have to go back 34 years to find a Haskell Invitational that can compare for strength in depth with the running we are likely to be watching at Monmouth Park on July 17.
Next month’s Haskell is right up there as one of the strongest renewals since the race’s 1968 inception, featuring five of the six horses who finished first or second in the three Triple Crown races, with the top five contenders all having earned triple-digit Beyer speed figures.
No other running has the same credentials, unless it’s that 1987 edition, which included the first two in every Triple Crown race of the season. Granted, they were the same two in each event. The Jack van Berg-trained Alysheba had won the Kentucky Derby by three-quarters of a length and the Preakness Stakes by a half a length before trainer Jimmy Croll’s Bet Twice turned the tables in no uncertain manner, taking the Belmont by 14 lengths, still the sixth largest margin in race history.
Also in the Haskell line-up were Maryland trainer William Donovan’s Lost Code, who was on a 7-race winning streak including the G1 Arlington Classic, Secretariat’s Graded stakes winning son Clever Secret, and the New Jersey-bred Born To Shop, trained by Guadalupe Guerrero.
Lost Code, the lone speed in the race, broke sharply into the lead. Bet Twice followed with jockey Craig Perret worried about him getting loose on the lead. Alysheba had drawn the inside and his rider, Chris McCarron, pinned on the rail, refused to give away the position. As a result, Lost Code coasted through modest fractions of 23⅗ and 46⅗ early on for jockey Gene St Leon but never got more than two lengths ahead.
Lost Code went wide on the final turn and McCarron, fearing an opening along the rail would close, lost momentum swinging outside. Bet Twice saved ground and won by a nose in a thrilling three-way photo finish over Alysheba. It was another nose back to Lost Code (see video above).
The final time of 1:47 was one fifth off the track record, and good enough to remain the stakes record to this day, tied with Majestic Light’s 1976 mark. Alysheba, the son of Alydar, ended up U.S. Three-Year Old Champion despite finishing behind Bet Twice next out in the Travers.
The 2020 Haskell contenders
But back to 2021, and a look at the possible leading candidates:
Hot Rod Charlie
Oxbow–Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie
Belmont Stakes runner-up and Kentucky Derby show horse, Hot Rod Charlie, who missed the wire by a length and a quarter last out, is being seriously considered for the race, according to trainer Doug O’Neill. His sire won the Preakness and the Haskell. The only issue with Hot Rod Charlie is an uncontested lead. When he had it in the G2 Louisiana Derby, he finished strong. In the Belmont, while running some of the fastest early fractions since Secretariat, he was nipped at the wire by Essential Quality, who won by half a length. Still, Hot Rod Charlie came out of the race running a 108 Beyer. Joint favorite.
Mandaloun
Into Mischief-Brooch by Empire Maker
After breaking poorly, the Kentucky Derby runner-up came from well off the pace to capture the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park with the Haskell as his target. He won by a neck and will face tougher competition in the Haskell. Some are dismissing the quality of the Pegasus field, but they should remember that Mandaloun was coming off a 6-week break, and in the start before the Kentucky Derby he finished sixth behind Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon in the Louisiana Derby. Trainer Brad Cox will have had six weeks to get him ready for the Haskell.
Medina Spirit
Protonico–Mongolian Changa by Brilliant Speed
Zedan Racing’s Kentucky Derby ‘winner’ is having a needed rest after his third in the Preakness, his sixth stakes in less than five months, more 2021 stakes starts than any other horse in either of the first two legs of the Triple Crown. While the powers that be in Kentucky decide what his fate will be with regard to the Derby overage, 9-time Haskell winner Bob Baffert had his charge return to the work tab on June 14. Like Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit has won races only when he has been on an uncontested lead. Medina Spirit is the fresher of the two, having not run since the Preakness, so that may be a factor here. Joint favorite.
Midnight Bourbon
Tiznow–Catch the Moon by Malibu Moon
The Steve Asmussen trainee has big shoes to fill with two of the trainer’s entries in this race going on to be Horse of the Year in Curlin (2007) and Rachel Alexandra 2008). Winner of the G3 Lecomte Stakes before his second-place finish in the Preakness Stakes to Rombauer, Midnight Bourbon has been a solid competitor with his only finish out of the money from nine starts in the Kentucky Derby where he finished sixth. Having raced in five stakes this year, Midnight Bourbon is also getting some well-deserved rest.
Rombauer
Twirling Candy–Cashmere by Cowboy Cal
He won the Preakness by 3½ lengths over Midnight Bourbon, and 5½ over Medina Spirit. Coming back on three weeks rest in the Belmont after a career-best performance, he managed to run third. Owned by Cheyenne Stables, Rombauer ran the eighth fastest Preakness in history.
Following Sea
Runhappy–Quick Flip by Speightstown
Owner Spendthrift Farm transferred training duties from Baffert to Todd Pletcher in the wake of the Medina Spirit overage after the horse had broken his maiden with Baffert. As a result, Following Sea was scratched from his stakes debut. Pletcher wasted little time, running him two weeks later in a 6-furlong allowance, where he earned a lofty 100 Beyer, among the top performances by a 3-year old this year. While he will probably point to the G3 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont, his inclusion here would add additional quality.
Weyburn
Pioneer of the Nile–Sunday Affair by A P Indy
Another strong possibility for the Haskell includes the Jimmy Jerkens-trained Weyburn, who won the G3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. His connections skipped the Kentucky Derby in favor of the Belmont, and then later passed on that race as well. The Gotham winner finished fourth in the G2 Wood Memorial. He is well bred for the race, sharing a sire with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and a dam sire with Belmont winner A P Indy. Last out, he had a strong performance in the Pegasus Stakes, showing grit as he fought back against Mandaloun after losing the lead in the stretch.
The race, named in honor of former Monmouth Park president and chairman Armory L Haskell, became an invitational for 3-year old in 1981. Those who have taken part include six Horses of the Year (Holy Bull, Point Given, Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, American Pharoah and Authentic), 13 3-Year Old Champion Colts (Wajima, Alysheba, Holy Bull, Skip Away, Point Given, War Emblem, Curlin, Big Brown, Summer Bird, Lookin at Lucky, American Pharoah, Maximum Security, and Authentic), and two 3-Year Old Champion Fillies (Serena’s Song and Rachel Alexandra).
Another strong edition was in 2009, when Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra took on Belmont winner scorer Summer Bird in their first and only meeting.
Rachel Alexandra had won her third G1 in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park, while Summer Bird was coming into the race off his first stakes win at Belmont Park. The race also featured talented Coolmore sprinter Munnings, who was coming off a win in the open company G2 Tom Fool.
Munnings took the lead by a length with sharp early fractions, pursued by Rachel Alexandra and Summer Bird. Suddenly, at the top of the stretch, Rachel Alexandra accelerated to the lead and effortlessly sprinted to the wire, winning by six over Summer Bird, and seven over Munnings. The final time was 1:47.10, a tenth off the stakes record, and the winner received the top Beyer for the year of any horse - 116.
The top two horses in the race finished the year as champions in their divisions, with Rachel Alexandra also named Horse of the Year.
Todd Sidor, an attorney by trade, has helped produce equine law seminars, and has been a member of racing partnerships for a number of years. His more than two decades' passion and respect for the sport of horseracing will always make him, first and foremost, a racing enthusiast with a penchant for racing history.