Concealed Identity, who ran a
sharp second to Pants On Fire in the Grade 3 Pegasus Stakes in his Monmouth
debut, will have one more breeze at Bowie next week and ship to Monmouth early
on the morning of Sunday, July 31, to run in the $1 million Resorts Haskell
Invitational (G1).
Linda Gaudet, wife of trainer
Eddie Gaudet and co-owner of the 3-year-old with Morris Bailey, said they will
follow the same pattern for the Haskell as they did for the Pegasus.
“He’ll breeze a half-mile at
Bowie on Wednesday (July 27),” Gaudet said, “and then we’ll van him up to
Monmouth early Sunday morning to beat the heat. We did the same thing before
the last race, and it worked out well.”
Gaudet said she and Bailey
and her husband were all looking forward to running Concealed Identity in the
Haskell.
“It’s a tough spot, of
course,” she said, “and it’s a big test for him. But he’s never trained any
better than he is now. He’s doing super. It’s great to go into a race like this
with a lot of confidence.”
Morris Bailey, a real estate
developer who purchased Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel in partnership
with Dennis Gomes last year, is the prospective lessee of Monmouth Park.
Gaudet said she and Bailey
have been partners in the ownership of horses for 25 years.
Concealed Identity, a son of
2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, was purchased as a
yearling for $16,000 from the Timonium September Sale in 2009.
He was gelded before he ever
started because of bad behavior, and then won his debut at Laurel on Oct. 7,
2010. He became a stakes winner when he took the Maryland Juvenile Championship
at Laurel on
Dec. 18.
This year, Concealed Identity
won the Federico Tesio on May 7, but then finished 10th of 14 in the
Preakness Stakes won by Shackleford.
In the Pegasus, with Chris
DeCarlo aboard for the first time, Concealed Identity tracked the pacesetters
into the stretch and then mounted an outside rally that got him within two
lengths of Pants On Fire.
Concealed Identity will meet
that rival again in the mile and an eighth Resorts Haskell Invitational, which
is expected to draw a field of seven or eight.
In addition to Concealed
Identity and Pants On Fire, the prospective starters are Belmont Stakes winner
Ruler On Ice; Preakness winner Shackleford; the Steve Asmussen-trained
Astrology; J J’s Lucky Train from Bill Anderson, and perhaps two Bob Baffert
trainees, Coil and Prayer for Relief.
OCEANPORT, MATCHMAKER TOP HASKELL
UNDERCARD EVENTS
While the spotlight on July
31 falls squarely on the 44th running of the $1million Resorts
Haskell Invitational (G1), Monmouth will offer seven other stakes on the
14-race card.
Topping the Haskell undercard
events are two Grade 3 turf tests, the $200,000 Oceanport at a mile and a
sixteenth, and the $200,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker for fillies and mares at
nine furlongs.
Get Serious, winner of last
year’s Oceanport, is ready to try for a repeat, and Violon Sacre, beaten a neck
that day, is expected to be on hand for a return match.
Last year’s winner of the
Taylor Made Matchmaker, Unbridled Essence, is likely to be back to defend her
title. The Gregg Sacco-trained mare was a 41-1 surprise package in 2010, but is
a known quantity this year after coming up just a nose short in the Grade 3
Violet here on May 30.
The Matchmaker offers a
unique prize to the first three finishers – a free season to one of three
Taylor Made stallions. The stallions this year are Forestry, Northern
Afleet and Wildcat Heir.
The other five stakes to be
contested on Haskell Day all carry purses of $100,000. They include the Jersey
Derby on turf for 3-year-olds; the Majestic Light for older horses and the
Lady’s Secret for fillies and mares both at a mile and a sixteenth, and the
Teddy Drone for older horses and the Regret for fillies and mares at six
furlongs.