|
Big Brown is huge favourite at Haskell Invitational!
Big Brown, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was made the 1-2 favourite for this Sunday's running of the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park racecourse. He drew the No. 4 post for the event and will be under the direction of jockey Kent Desormeaux.
Six three-year-olds will be challenging Big Brown at Monmouth Park racecourse for the August 3 Haskell. This will be Big Brown's first start since he was pulled up and then finished a controversial last in the Belmont Stakes.
Here is the complete list of combatants in the $1 million Haskell Invitational, arranged according to Post No., together with jockey, comments and Haskell odds:
HASKELL INVITATIONAL
03 August 2008 (Sunday)
Monmouth Park Racecourse |
|
Post |
Horse |
Jockey |
Comments |
M/L
Odds |
1 |
Magical Forest |
Jorge Chavez |
Won 2 stakes races consecutively. Chavez has Haskell experience. |
10-1 |
2 |
Cool Coal Man |
Eddie Castro |
Is 1-for-1 at Monmouth. Coming-off a seven-week break. |
4-1 |
3 |
Alaazo |
Jose Lezcano |
Won at Monmouth & Gulfstream last year. Coming off 2 losing races. |
30-1 |
4 |
Big Brown |
Kent Desormeaux |
Won Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Pulled up at Belmont & finished last.
Great workout registered at Aqueduct. |
1-2 |
5 |
Nistle's Crunch |
Elvis Trujillo |
Out of the board only once in 10 starts. Can slug it out with the best. |
15-1 |
6 |
Coal Play |
Joe Bravo |
Coming off a month-long break. Third in his most recent outing. |
8-1 |
7 |
Atoned |
Edgar Prado |
Won 2 of 5 races at Monmouth. Trainer Pletcher has 2 straight Haskell wins. |
6-1 |
|
Big Brown's performance had been promising during his workouts for the Haskell Invitational. On Saturday, he delivered a time of 1:10.96 at Aqueduct racecourse.
Mike Iavarone, the co-president of IEAH Stables (majority owner of Big Brown), said that his sources have it that the figure was "one of the best workouts laid down at Aqueduct", and that his connections are happy.
Cool Coal Man is the only other graded stakes winner at the Haskell Invitational. His trainer Nick Zito only has good words for him.
Zito is likewise quite happy with his other entry Coal Play. He was second in the What a Pleasure Stakes at Calder racecourse and has triumphed in two of his eight starts.
Though having the most stakes experience, Atoned has only won in the Continental Mile Stakes at Monmouth Park racecourse last year. He will start from the outside post on Sunday and Edgar Prado will be astride this warrior. His trainer Todd Pletcher has won the last two Haskell Invitationals with Bluegrass Cat and Any Given Saturday.
The fourth stakes winner in Sunday's Monmouth Park racecourse extravaganza is Magical Forest , under Paraneck Stable. He drew Post # 1. Magical Forest was victorious in the Spicy Award Stakes at Aqueduct racecourse, as well as the Grade III Barbaro and Floor Show Stakes at Delaware Park racecourse.
Meanwhile, Allen Farm's Nistle's Crunch is looking good for Sunday. Trainer Ken McPeek believes that Nistle's Crunch will be ready to make his mark on this race which he described as "other than Big Brown, the race is relatively wide open."
For his part, Alaazo has not had a chance to run at a stakes event yet but is 2-for-4 in his career.
| 
UK
US
CAN
AUS
HK
›› Bet on Other Racetracks