American Pharoah is preparing for Sunday’s running of the Haskell Invitational horse race. With jockey Victor Espinoza leading the way, American Pharoah took the world by storm.
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“The trip was very smooth”, said Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer to Bob Baffert.
Competitive Edge is the third choice on the Haskell line at 8-1.
Reserved and box seats sold out even before American Pharoah was officially declared a Haskell starter, and with no attendance cap, and the ability to walk up and gain admission to the grandstand or clubhouse on race-day at non-inflated prices of $6 and $9 respectively, it would be hard to imagine anything but a record crowd.
American Pharoah’s trainer, Bob Baffert, speaking on a teleconference from California, said his horse hasn’t missed a beat since winning the Triple Crown.
Yes, Secretariat began his post-Triple Crown victory tour in 1973 with a near-record shattering victory in the $125,000 Arlington Invitational at Arlington Park 21 days after his unbelievable performance in the Belmont Stakes.
“He doesn’t get to watch a movie, but if he wants one, we can show him ‘Mr”.
Todd Pletcher entered three in the Haskell.
When he arrives at Monmouth, he will be stabled at trainer Kelly Breen’s barn.
OCEANPORT, N.J.-As a handful of horseplayers studied the racing form at Monmouth Park on Thursday morning, workers were making last-minute preparations for what is expected to be one of the biggest weekends in the track’s 145-year history. “Usually the first day we’ll do something light”.
“He had a very high energy level this morning”.
When that idea didn’t float, Monmouth announced the purse increase on Wednesday, although several insiders are convinced the increase, the final inducement for Zayat to run his horse in his home state, was finalized earlier in the month.
Hollywood Park lured his team to the Swaps Stakes with a $400,000 purse, but the horse didn’t break well on race day. They have off-days, just like us humans. Needless to say, there is no pressure on us.. “They still gotta run the race”, said Top Clearance’s trainer Wayne Catalano. The colt missed the Triple Crown races because of foot problems, but won the Dwyer on July 4, then outdueled Sun King in the stretch and won the Haskell by 1 1 /4 lengths under Jerry Bailey.
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We’ll assess him after [the Haskell], but right now we’re not talking about that. I thought Wednesday be 50-1.
