Preakness Stakes victor Exaggerator was added to the field of horses for Sunday’s $1 million race, according to a press release sent from Monmouth Park on Wednesday.
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“What a pleasant surprise”, Monmouth Park President Bob Kulina said Wednesday.
Exaggerator, one of the best stories from the Triple Crown trail with jockey Kent Desormeaux riding the closer for his brother, trainer Keith Desormeaux, handed Nyquist the first loss of his career in the Preakness.
The South Jersey race now consists of two of the three Triple Crown winners and the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby. “And usually a great race”. A year ago, American Pharoah blew away the field in the Haskell in his first race back after becoming the first Triple Crown victor since 1978.
Exaggerator’s entrance into the race makes it one of the biggest races of the year as the 3-year-old colt will take on rival Nyquist, the Kentucky Derby victor.
Two other horses will head to the Haskell starting gate with something to prove: the Derby’s third-place colt, Gun Runner, who has been training well and shipped down from Saratoga Springs on Tuesday, and Brody’s Cause, who finished seventh in the Derby.
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After the Belmont, trainer Keith Desormeaux chose to keep Exaggerator in NY and plan for the Jim Dandy at Saratoga on Saturday, and the Travers on August 27.
