Monmouth Park made the announcement Wednesday, the day American Pharoah arrived at the track after a cross-country flight from California.
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As a racing fan (the kind who likes to see strong fields), I applaud the move to get a couple of prime upset candidates to take the bait and run against the newly minted legend in the $1.75-million William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes. Upstart will break from the rail under Joe Bravo.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, with three Haskell wins, entered three horses Competitive Edge, Nonas Boy and Dontbetwithbruno.
For locals, Irace said it would be better to run errands and activities Saturday due to the expected gridlock on Sunday. Needless to say, there is no pressure on us..
“We’ve all waited a long time to see a Triple Crown-winning horse and we’re thankful to the Zayat family and trainer Bob Baffert for choosing to showcase their champion at Monmouth Park”, Kulina said. Tobin on an afternoon when the victor carved out insanely fast fractions of 22.40, 45.40, 1:09.20 and 1:33.60 en route to running the 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.40 while beating Slew by 16 lengths. As the field stands now, there will be show wagering on the Haskell. “Just have them ready and whatever happens, happens”. “Now Monmouth Park has turned itself around from days when the governor thought about closing it. Last year we made a profit”.
This is the same mechanism that was used in 2001 to raise the purse to $1.5 million when Point Given won and in 2009 when the purse was increased to $1.25 million to attract Rachel Alexandra.
“This is going to be a historic day for Monmouth Park”, said Dennis Drazin, an adviser to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which operates the track through Darby Development.
“He’s a runner. He’s a race horse and what an athlete he is”.
Without a doubt one of the biggest sports stars of 2015 is American Pharoah.
“I think he’s getting stronger”.
“He looked great and he’s moving attractive, and he’s holding his form really well”, Baffert said this week following American Pharoah’s final workout before the race.
“He walked this morning and will jog about a mile over the track tomorrow morning at 7:30”, said Barnes.
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American Pharoah arrived just after 4 p.m.to the stable area where he will be staying in Kelly Breen’s barn.
