OCEANPORT – The $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes turned into a repeat of last month’s Belmont Stakes, as a growing rivalry produced another dramatic finish.
Just like in the final leg of the Triple Crown, it was Dornoch on the rail holding off a hard-charging favorite Mindframe on the outside, this time pulling off a 1 1/4-length victory at Monmouth Park Saturday.
Sent off as the second choice at 5/2, Dornoch covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.31, paying $8.80 to win, with his next start likely to be in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 24.
"Luis (Saez) rode a smart race tactically," trainer Danny Gargan said. "It’s a speed bias track normally but I was a little nervous speed wasn’t holding that well. To go :48 on this track when the rest of the card they were going in :50 earlier, he showed a lot of heart. You can’t take anything away from him after this.”
Dornoch becomes the first Belmont winner to win the Haskell since Triple Crown winner American Pharoah won both in 2015. It was the first Haskell victory for Gargan.
Speaking of American Pharoah, the crowd of 38,976 was the largest since a record 60,983 packed the grandstand nine years ago to see American Pharoah run. And the all-sources handle of $21.7 million surpassed the Haskell Day record of $21.3 million set last year.
One of Dornoch’s owners is Belmar Racing and Breeding, owned by Belmar resident Vito Cucci, part of an ownership group - which includes former Philadelphia Phillies star Jayson Werth - that crowded into the winner’s circle.
“It’s just incredible," Cucci said. "I’ve been coming here since I was 12 or 13 years old. We would take the bus to downtown Newark and the train would drop you off right behind the stable area. We went to see Dornoch (Friday) and went across the same train tracks. To come back to this is just unbelievable.”
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It was the second Haskell winner with local ties in recent years, with longtime Ocean Township resident Al Gold winning the 2022 Haskell with Cyberknife.
What makes Dornoch so good? 'A big heart'
As expected, 2-year-old champion Fierceness was scratched earlier in the day, with owner Mike Repole, who also owns a 50 percent share of Mindframe, opting to keep the horse in Saratoga with plans to run in next Saturday’s Jim Dandy Stakes.
Breaking from the No. 1 post, Dornoch went right out to grab the lead on the rail, with Timberlake, a Grade 1 winner coming off a 15-week layoff, racing out to challenge on the outside. The two led the field down the backstretch, hitting six furlongs in 1:12.05, before the Mindframe, making just his fourth career start, began to move on the outside.
Just like the Belmont, it was Mindframe grabbing a short lead in the stretch, before Dornoch dug in and shook off the challenge in the final furlong.
"He has a big heart," jockey Luis Saez said. "He always breaks from there and wants to be on the engine. The plan was to break good from there and put him in the race. He did it. He showed up today. Mindframe was coming at him and we knew he was the horse to beat but we got the victory.
"He’s a special horse. He was pretty comfortable out there. He’s a really good horse who always shows a lot of guts and a big heart. Today he was travelling pretty comfortably. At the three-eighths when everyone was coming at him he re-broke again. He responded. He wanted to get there first."
It was Dornoch’s second Grade 1 victory, in addition to a pair of Grade 2 wins in the Fountain of Youth and Remsen Stakes earlier this year. The $600,000 winner’s share pushes his career earnings to $2.35 million.
Finishing strong
Timberlake finished third, making his first start since finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, after winning the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes there on Feb. 24 for trainer Brad Cox. Cox won two of the last three Haskells. Earlier in the card, he won the Grade 3 $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes with distaff champion Idiomatic.
Just Step On It, a longshot Parx allowance horse trained by Louis Linder Jr. supplemented as an entry last week to fill out the field, ran a good race, nosing out local favorite Sea Streak to grab fourth place.
Sea Streak, winner of the Long Branch Stakes on opening day to secure entry into the Haskell, is a Jersey-bred, owned and bred by Middletown’s Holly Crest Farm. The horse was vying to become the first state-bred to win the Haskell since Thanks To Tony in 1980.
Rounding out the order of finish in the seven-horse field was Tuscan Sky, with the winner of the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park last month compromised by being bumped at the start and finishing sixth. Jasper's Pride, the first Haskell starter for long-time Monmouth Park trainer Chuck Spina, ran seventh.
Up next
Dornoch now looks like the leading contender in the 3-year-old division, with two Grade 1 wins and a pair of Grade 2 victories this season.
Now the plan is solidify his standing in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 24, where the likes of Fierceness and Sierra Leone will likely be waiting. And maybe Mindframe will be there to renew the rivalry.
"This race was five weeks before the Travers, which made the timing perfect," Gargan said. "We want to win the Travers. He’s always been special to all of us. He’s probably the leading 3-year-old right now and if we can win the Travers that would be three Grade 1 wins for us. He’s such a great horse and we’re blessed just to be part of it.”
From earlier:
Get Smokin wires field in Grade 2 United Nations on Monmouth Park turf
In a dramatic finish to the Grade 2 $600,000 United Nations Stakes, Get Smokin went wire-to-wire in the 1 3/8-mile turf test at 9-1, leading the field through quick fractions before holding on to win by a nose over 23-1 Grand Sonata, who nearly got up in time on the rail.
It was a gutsy performance by the 7-year-old gelding, who covered a half-mile in 47.86 seconds, went 1:11.7 for six furlongs and hit the mile in 1:35.69.
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Get Smokin, ridden by Fernando De La Cruz and trained by Mark Casse, closed 2023 with a wire-to-wire win in the Grade 2 Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs, before opening the year by fading to fourth in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes at Woodbine in June.
Tapit Trice scores big win on Haskell undercard after long layoff
Coming off an 11-month layoff after finishing third in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Tapit Trice showed his class by rolling to an impressive victory in the Grade 3 $400,000 Monmouth Cup.
Having finished fifth in last year’s Haskell, Tapit Trice returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 8, 2023. Tapit Trice went on to run seventh in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes last year.
Tapit Trice is trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.
The 4-year-old Tapit colt stalked the pace set by Counterspy, before rolling to the front around the turn and taking charge down the stretch at odds of 5/2 in the nine furlong test.
“We’re very happy" Pletcher said. "It’s been a little frustrating with him. He gave him some time off after the Travers by design last year and we were hoping to get back Kentucky Derby week at Churchill but we had a little setback. That delayed everything. We’re happy to get him back. He was in good form today. That was a good performance.
“We didn't think there was a lot of pace on paper and it’s the way it unfolded. They were going a pretty comfortable pace. We had to sacrifice a little bit of ground to keep him in his rhythm and he got in a good flow and that seems to be what he does best. I was pleased with the way he was going."
Highland Falls, coming off a Grade 3 win at Churchill Downs, was sent off as the favorite, finishing third.
Distaff champ Idiomatic avoids upset, wins Molly Pitcher by a head
The Grade 3 $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes was supposed to be a coronation for champion mare Idiomatic, the four-time Grade 1 winner using the race to prep for the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga next month.
But it was far from easy.
Sent off at odds of 1/9, Idiomatic took the lead out of the gate and appeared to be in complete control. But 5-1 Soul of an Angel made a move rounding the turn and took the lead on the outside in the stretch. But with Florent Geroux urging the 5-year-old daughter of Curlin on, Idiomatic dug in on the rail and got up to win by a head.
The appearance of Idiomatic, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, was the highlight of the Haskell undercard. In the end, Idiomatic showed her class, boosting her career earnings to $3.4 million. It was the her seventh win in her last eight starts.
“My mindset was pretty simple; she has a lot more speed," Geroux said. "The idea was to break out early, let her sit and go from there. I didn't expect the filly to start looking around as much as she did. When the filly came up next to me I just had to give her a little reminder and push our way through.
“I tried to make her go faster and she was waiting on the other fillies. She’s a good horse, a champion filly. They know what to do and how to win races. "
Winning trainer Brad Cox will send out Timberlake, 8-1 in the morning line, in the $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes later today.
Fans cheer Dettori flying dismount after Matchmaker win
The fans were lined up deep around the winner’s circle to see jockey Frankie Dettori do his signature flying dismount after the first graded stakes of the afternoon on Haskell Day at Monmouth Park.
And it was all Dettori in this one, lulling the field to sleep in the Grade 3 $300,000 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes and holding on for the victory aboard Beaute Cachee in the 1 1/8-mile test on the turf.
Grabbing the lead right out of the gate, Dettori guided the field through leisurely fractions, including 50 seconds for the half time and 1:15 for six furlongs. And when challenged by Sacred Wish, ridden by Luis Saez, who tracked the leader throughout, Beaute Cachee, trained by Chad Brown, had enough in the tank to pull off the win by a head over 9/2 Sacred Wish.
“Chad Brown told me `You don’t have to leave.’ I thought that might be the intention of Luis Saez (aboard Sacred Wish)," Dettori said. "I was able to make the lead, slow things up, and she was relaxed. I was very confident because there was no pressure until the quarter pole. At that point, with the fractions being what they were, I knew she would be very hard to catch.
"She can sprint late as long as no horse gets past her at the quarter pole. Chad said she likes a target too but he left it entirely up to me. Once I had those easy fractions it would have been very hard to take back so we just went on with it.”
It’s the second stakes win of the meet for Dettori, who won the $100,000 Jersey Derby with Twirling Point on June 1 in what was his first mount ever at Monmouth Park.
First race superfecta pays 38K, as 90-1 shot places
There were a few takeaways from Monmouth Park’s first race including a huge payout to open the day.
The first was that Lake Chapala hit the wire second in the maiden claiming race at odds of 90-1. The $1 superfecta of 3-5-12-2 resulted in a $38,741 payoff.
That long-shot vibe continued in the second race, as 10-1 Chuck Willis won, just holding off Awesome City, resulting in a $662.80 superfecta, while paying $23.20 on a $2 win bet.
What do Haskell horses cost?
The cost to purchase one of the contenders in this year's Haskell wasn't cheap, with the $600,000 Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables paid for Mindframe topping the list.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the $32,000 for longshot Just Step On It.
The Haskell featured a winner’s share of $600,000, with $200,000 for second place, $100,000 for third, $30,000 for fourth and $12,500 for everyone else in the race.
Dornoch has already proven to be a great investment for the partners put together by trainer Danny Gargan, who paid $325,000 as a yearling for the colt.
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This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Haskell Stakes: Dornoch takes thrilling victory over Mindframe in a Belmont Stakes replay
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