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2007 Haskell Invitational Horse Racing Features Stakes Winners Galore

By Randall Winston

The 40th Haskell Invitational has attracted a slew of stakes winners, including Curlin, victorious in the Preakness.

There have been some classy horses coming off victories in Triple Crown events that captured this race. Three won the Preakness: Deputed Testimony, '83; Point Given, '01; and War Emblem in '02, the only Kentucky Derby champion to visit the winner's circle.

Six consecutive captured the Haskell from '94, when Holy Bull scored at the lowest payoff of $2.40, through '99, when Menifee triumphed. In all, 18 favorites didn't disappoint in 39 races.

There have been notable upsets, too. Right off the bat in the initial '68 running, favored Iron Ruler ran fourth while Balustrade won at 33-1. Our Native surprised odds-on Linda's Chief by seven lengths in '73 and returned $17.60.

In '76, Majestic Light, 5-1, established the stakes record of 1:47 for 1 1/8 miles that was equaled by '87 Belmont winner Bet Twice in a five-horse field that included runner-up Alysheba, victorious in the first two Triple Crown legs. Majestic Light sired '82 winner Wavering Monarch.

In '86, Wise Times surprised Belmont winner Danzig Connection at 11-1. Lost Mountain upset Hansel, the '91 Preakness and Belmont winner, and returned $13.60.

The longest shot to score was Skip Trial, who upset '85 Kentucky Derby champ Spend a Buck and Belmont victor Crème Fraiche, second and third, respectively. The sire of '96 Haskell winner Skip Away returned $73.

More than 40,000 fans jammed the New Jersey oval for Monmouth's signature race eight of the last nine years. In '03, Peace Rules went wire-to-wire as the largest crowd in Garden State history turned out 53,638.

"This should turn out to be a great race," racing secretary Mike Dempsey predicted. "(It's) one of the best Haskell fields we've ever had."

Sunday's race, in addition to the likely favored Curlin, third at Churchill Downs who was nosed out in the Belmont by Rags to Riches, includes several stakes winners that ran in one or more Triple Crown events.

Hard Spun, second at Louisville, third at Pimlico and fourth at Belmont, hopes to regain the winning form he displayed earlier this year taking two stakes.

Any Given Saturday won the Dwyer Stakes on July 4 after running eighth in the Kentucky Derby.

Cable Boy, undefeated in three outings during the Monmouth meeting, scored by 3.75 lengths on June 24 in the Coronado's Quest, named for the '98 winner of the Haskell that was sired by '88 winner Forty Niner.

Cable Boy established the track record of 1:38 3/5 for a mile and 70 yards in only his second start.

Xchanger, who captured Delaware's Barbaro Stakes, was unbeaten last year at Monmouth in two starts, including a victory in the Sapling Stakes.

While Imawildandcrazyguy has only two allowance wins, the stretch runner finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Belmont. If there's a healthy pace up front, the son of Wild Event could pull the upset.

Possible starters include First Defence, who won the Long Branch Breeders' Cup Stakes, Monmouth's prep for the Haskell.

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Whitney Handicap: All in the Family for Decades

By Greg Melikov
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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The Whitney Handicap isn't very old compared to other Saratoga stakes like the Travers. When Black Mania won the inaugural in 1928, Petee-Wrack captured the 64th Travers.

But the Whitney is historic in its own right, named for a family whose horses have won every major race in the United States. Harry Payne Whitney's Regret was the first filly to capture the Kentucky Derby in '15 and earned Horse of the Year honors.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, most often referred to as C. V., inherited his father's stable in '30 and became the third generation of Whitneys heavily involved in horse racing.

On May 17 that year, five months before the elder Whitney passed away, his 2-year-old Equipoise won the Keene Memorial at Belmont Park. Called the Chocolate Soldier by fans because of his elegance and symmetry, Equipoise had his juvenile season cut short by a hoof crack and only ran three-times as a 3-year-old.

But at 4 and 5, C. V., called 'Sonny' by close friends, cashed in when Equipoise captured a slew of stakes, including the Whitney in '32 with a purse of $5,400. Equipoise also was Horse of the Year for the first of two consecutive times.

One of Whitney's homes was the 'Cady Hill' estate at Saratoga Springs, not far from the track where in '50 he founded the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, serving as its first president.

Two years later, he sent out another winner in the Whitney: Counterpoint, who took the Belmont in '51. In '57, C. V. was inducted into the Hall of Fame. On Aug. 6, eight new members join the elite group in the ceremony at Saratoga.

Fast forward more than two decades when C. V., in his 80s, saw his horses triumph in the Whitney twice: State Dinner in '80 and Silver Buck in '82.

Some national champions have won the Whitney, including War Admiral, '38; Tom Fool, '53; and Dr. Fager,'68. Two champs won this race three times: Discovery, '34-36, and Kelso, every other year beginning in '61.

Flashy Bull, going for his fifth consecutive victory, will likely be favored in Saturday's $750,000 Whitney for 3-year-olds and up.

The son of Holy Bull comes off victory in the $829,500 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 16. He covered the 1 1/8 miles, the same distance as the Whitney, in an excellent 1:48 1/5.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's Flashy Bull will again face conditioner Todd Pletcher's Magna Graduate and horse trainer Richard Durow's Diamond Stripes, second and third, respectively, in that Grade 1 race at Churchill Downs.

Pletcher also entered Lawyer Ron, winner of the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap, and Fairbanks, runner-up to Political Force in Belmont's Suburban.

Other challengers in the 80th Whitney include Dry Martini, impressive winner of the Cornhusker Breeders' Cup Handicap at Prairie Meadows; Awesome Twist, runner-up in the Tom Fool; Papi Chullo, on a two-race winning streak; Wanderin Boy, victorious in Churchill's Alysheba; and Sun King, fourth in the Met Mile.

The 44th running of the $500,000 Jim Dandy on Sunday has attracted several 3-year-olds prepping for the $1 million Travers on Aug. 25 that's part of Saratoga's stakes program worth more than $10.3 million.

The odds-on favorite will be Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, who skipped the Belmont after being edged by Curlin in the Preakness.

His main opposition isn't very strong because topnotch sophomores like Curlin and Hard Spun opted for the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 5.

Only one of the 19 he beat in The Derby will run: Nobiz Like Showbiz, 10th on May 5. Only one that raced well behind his runner-up finish in the Preakness is entered: C P West, fifth on May 19.

Other challengers are Tiz Wonderful, idle since his unbeaten juvenile season because of a tendon injury, and Sightseeing, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 20.

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Saratoga: The Spa and Graveyard of Champions

By Greg Melikov
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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An American boxing champion that became a congressman, a lawyer who made a fortune on Wall Street, the grandfather of Winston Churchill and a horseman combined to stage the first national meeting nearly 144 years ago.

It was held as an experiment. Well, the experiment, four days at Saratoga Raceway that began Aug. 3, 1863, was a huge success. So much so that the quartet decided to expand the following year and move across the street to construct a bigger track to accommodate larger crowds.

They called it Saratoga Race Course, located in the resort of Saratoga Springs where the first thoroughbred horse race in this country was held in 1847. The principle players were:

William R. Travers, a lawyer named president of the Saratoga Association, who was such a force in racing that the oldest major American thoroughbred race bears his name.

John "Old Smoke" Morrissey, former bare-knuckle champ, gambler and a soon-to-be lawmaker on state and national levels that once was a New York gang member in the 1850s.

Leonard Walter Jerome, flamboyant entrepreneur, father of Churchill's mother and another successful stock speculator known as "the King of Wall Street."

John R. Hunter, whose horses ran on both sides of the Atlantic and co-owned the first winner of the Travers with Travers in 1864 named Kentucky.

The Saratoga meeting originally consisted of four weeks, but subsequently was lengthened another week and finally became a six-week meeting that now ends on Labor Day.

Saratoga Springs, located in upstate New York, was known as The Spa for the mineral springs in the area. And it later became known as the Graveyard of Favorites as well as the Graveyard of Champions.

Some champions that tasted defeat at the hands of unheralded opponents included Man 'o War, Gallant Fox and Secretariat.

Big Red's only loss in 21 races came in 1919 in a sprint on a muddy track to the aptly named Upset, '73 Triple Crown champion Secretariat was surprised by Onion in the Whitney Stakes and another Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox, was defeated by 100-1 shot Jim Dandy in the '30 Travers.

The Jim Dandy later became a stakes race, established in '64 as an appropriate prep for the Travers.

The 36-day meeting that opens July 25 features significant purse increases of more than 13 ½ percent, the New York Racing Association announced. That's up from an already industry leading daily average exceeding $678,800 to an expected $771,535.

Open allowance races at 1 1/8 miles jump $17,000 to $68,000 and purses for open maiden sprints climb $15,000 to $62,000. Overnight stakes rise $10,000 to $75,000.


There will be 47 stakes, included 33 graded races. And 15 stakes are Grade 1 events. In addition, there are seven multi-stakes days, including the track's richest two afternoons.

On July 28, the 80th running of $750,000 Whitney heads four stakes worth more than $1.7 million. On Aug. 25, the 138th Travers, worth $1 million, is the headliner on a four stakes card of more than $1.5 million.

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