When the horses load for the $1.75 million William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday, you’re going to have a hard time finding someone who thinks American Pharoah is going to lose.
Fresh off winning the first Triple Crown since 1978, the three-year-old is on a seven-race winning streak, having lost only his very first race, back in August of last year. He’s won running short and running long; he’s run on a fast track and in the slop; he’s run racing on the lead and from off the pace. At this point, you could probably ask him to run backwards over jumps, and he’d win that way, too.
But $1.75 million pays a lot even for second place--$330,000—and the race pays down to the sixth-place finisher ($15,000), so seven seemingly overmatched rivals will line up on either side of American Pharoah to pick up some purse money, or maybe to spring an upset.
With American Pharoah a heavy favorite, it might be tough to make money betting the Haskell, but fan education site Hello Race Fans (at which I’m a contributor) offers some suggestions for betting favorites.
You can bet the Haskell at off-track betting facilities; at racetracks, some of which are hosting Haskell viewing parties; and through advanced deposit phone or internet wagering accounts.
The field for the 2015 Haskell:
1) Upstart. Ridden by “Jersey Joe” Bravo and trained by Rick Violette. Impressive as a two-year-old and early on the Derby trail, Upstart crossed the wire first in two key Kentucky Derby preps. Disqualified in one of them, he came back to finish second in the competitive Florida Derby, only to throw in a clunker in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 18th. In eight lifetime races he’s finished worse than second only twice, but he’s making his first start since that disappointing Derby, and this would seem to be a pretty big ask. Morning line odds: 6-1.
2) Competitive Edge. Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, trained by multiple Eclipse Award winning trainer Todd Pletcher. Undefeated in four races until his last start and one of three Pletcher entries, Competitive Edge had won each race by open lengths before perplexingly finishing last in a stakes race on the Belmont Stakes undercard in early June. When on his game, he’s impressively fast, but he’s never run beyond a mile, a furlong shorter than the Haskell’s 1 1/8 distance. Morning line odds: 8-1.
3) Nonna’s Boy. Jockey TBA, trained by Todd Pletcher. He’s got a respectable enough record, with three wins, a second, and a third from seven starts, but he hasn’t run in a graded stakes race since last summer at Saratoga, when he finished fourth and seventh in his only graded stakes attempts. Morning line odds: 30-1.
4) American Pharoah. Ridden by Victor Espinoza, trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert has won seven previous editions of the Haskell, including last year’s with Bayern. If the champion loses, he’ll join Sir Barton (1919), Omaha (1935), and Seattle Slew (1977) in losing his first race after winning the Triple Crown. One might also wonder what a loss would do to the plans to race him twice more this year, with the ultimate goal the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky at the end of October. Morning line odds: 1-5
5) Mr. Jordan. Ridden by Paco Lopez, trained by Eddie Plesa Jr. Four wins in six starts, and he got disqualified from first in a race in April; he’s never finished worse than second. His biggest win came in his last start, the Grade III Pegasus at Monmouth, giving him experience over the local track, in a race half a furlong shorter than the Haskell. But he’s never faced competition like this. Morning line odds: 15-1.
6) Keen Ice. Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, trained by Dale Romans. Along with Upstart and American Pharoah, he’s a veteran of this year’s Kentucky Derby, finishing seventh, then running third in the Belmont Stakes. In nine lifetime races, he’s got one win, that coming in a maiden race last September at Churchill Downs. On Wednesday, jockey Desormeaux, who has a history of alcohol-related infractions, was taken off his mounts at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in California after he failed a Breathalyzer test, according to The Blood-Horse. The jockey is disputing the result and will be allowed to ride while the issue is investigated, and The Blood-Horse reported that he would retain the mount in the Haskell. Morning line odds: 12-1.
7) Top Clearance. Ridden by Abel Castellano Jr., trained by Wayne Catalano. He comes into the Haskell on a two-race win streak and was second in his only two races before that. But it took him three tries to break his maiden, and his only victory against winners came in an optional claiming race. His odds seem…generous. Morning line odds: 30-1.
8) Don’tbetwithbruno. Rider TBA, trained by Todd Pletcher. The third member of the Haskell Todd Squad, he’s got a record that looks like a lot of his rivals here: decent enough, but not at the stakes level and against lesser competition. He’s faltered in his few stakes tries, but with earnings of $110,000, even a sixth-place check will help owner Mike Repole make headway in recouping his $180,000 purchase price. Morning line odds: 30-1.
Approximate post time for the Haskell is 5:52 pm and will be featured in an NBC broadcast that begins at 5 pm.
Correction: a previous version of this post stated that Competitive Edge had never run long than seven furlongs. He ran one race at a mile.
