With less than a week until Monmouth Park’s Grade 1, $1
million Resorts Casino & Hotel Haskell Invitational, Preakness winner
Shackleford and Belmont victor Ruler On Ice headline a prospective field of
eight 3-year-olds. Entries for Monmouth Park’s signature event will be drawn at
Thursday’s annual Haskell press conference.
The expected field for the mile and one eighth Resorts
Casino & Hotel Haskell is:
ASTROLOGY – The Steve Asmussen trainee finished third in the Preakness earlier
this year and will bear the colors of Stonestreet Stables, who captured the
2009 Haskell with Rachel Alexandra. The
son of A.P. Indy will reside in Barn 39 leading up to the Haskell. The colt’s final work for the Resorts Casino
& Hotel Haskell was a four-furlong breeze in :51 1/5 on Saratoga’s training track on Monday, July 25.
COIL – The Bob Baffert-trained son of Point Given will make his
conventional dirt debut in the Resorts Casino & Hotel Haskell. Coil’s final Haskell work also came on
Monday, July 25 – a six-furlong move in 1:11 2/5 at Del Mar.
The chestnut colt will be stabled in Kelly Breen’s barn leading up to
the Sunday’s race and will bear the colors of Mike Pegram, who teamed with
Baffert to capture last year’s Haskell with Lookin At Lucky. Martin Garcia will have the mount.
CONCEALED IDENTITY – The runner-up last out in the Pegasus (G3)
behind Pants On Fire is partially owned by Monmouth Park lessee Morris Bailey. The Smarty Jones colt followed up a victory
in the Federico Tesio earlier this year with a 10th-place finish in
the Preakness. Trained by Edmond Gaudet,
Concealed Identity will ship to Monmouth
Park Sunday morning and
will be ridden by Chris DeCarlo.
Concealed Identity’s final Haskell work is scheduled to come Wednesday
morning at Bowie.
J J’S LUCKY TRAIN – A two-time winner over the Monmouth Park
surface, the colt by Silver Train will arrive at Monmouth Park on Tuesday and
have his final work Wednesday morning on the local turf. The Bill Anderson trainee will be housed in
Barn
18 leading up to
Sunday’s race. Paco Lopez, aboard for J
J’s Lucky Train’s second-place finish in the Woody Stephens (G2) at Belmont
last out, will ride in the Resorts Casino & Hotel Haskell.
JOE VANN – This year’s Illinois Derby (G3) winner will garner the services of
2004 Haskell-winning rider Joe Bravo for Sunday’s Resorts Casino & Hotel
Haskell. Most recently third in the Matt
Winn (G3) at Churchill, the Zayat Stables’ color-bearer is trained by two-time
Haskell-winning trainer Todd Pletcher.