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Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Haskell

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins.

DeRosa – Peter Pan Result – Country Grammer got the money in game fashion. Bankroll: $4960.

GI Haskell S. – Going to take a chance here with Jesus’ Team, who is right in the mix with all other contenders based on most recent form and maybe can find improvement going 1 1/8 miles first time. I love what his sire Tapiture has done from limited opportunities and at the price point, and maybe Jesus’ Team can be that sire’s breakout horse. Authentic took a step back last out and Dr. Post likely underlaid as the obvious alternative to favorite. Selection: #3 Jesus’ Team (15-1).

Sherack – Peter Pan Result – Mystic Guide could do no better than third as the chalk. Bankroll: $3135.

GI Haskell S. – I really need a bomb to get back in this thing, but this isn’t the race for it. Even with all the speed signed on, Authentic should still be awfully tough to beat for Mr. Haskell, Bob Baffert. Selection: #2 Authentic (4-5).

DiDonato – Peter Pan Result – Country Grammer (+$750) needed a busy ride, but he saved all the ground and fought on nicely to get the job done. Bankroll: $5125.

GI Haskell S. – I’ve been high on Dr Post for a while, and picked him in the Belmont. He took another step forward that day to be second, and catches an easier group this time while likely to get a huge pace set-up. There’s tons of other speed signed on here, which figures to compromise favorite Authentic’s chances as much as it’s going to help Dr Post. Barring some scratches, bad breaks or odd tactics, Dr Post will win this race. Selection: #1 Dr Post (5-2).

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Barnes: Authentic ‘Has Really Taken To The Track Well’ Ahead Of Saturday’s Haskell

Authentic, the 4-5 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, is ready to roll.

That's the word from Jimmy Barnes, the top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has already collected a record eight Haskell trophies.

“The horse is doing very well,” said Barnes, who arrived on the Monmouth Park backside with Authentic on Tuesday evening following a flight from their Southern California base. “He has really taken to the track well, which is how it's been with all the horses we've brought here in the past. They all seem to handle it well, and that's probably one of the reasons we keep heading back in this direction. But all horses are different in their unique way.”

The Haskell headlines a stakes-filled 14-race card that features the Grade 1 United Nations, the Grade 3 WinStar Matchmaker, the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup and the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher.

First race post time is noon. The Haskell is the 12th race on the program with a scheduled post time of 5:48 p.m., with NBC televising from Monmouth Park from 5 to 6 p.m. as part of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing.”

Authentic, a son of Into Mischief, was undefeated in his first three races, including the Grade 3 Sham Stakes and the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes before he was the runner-up in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby last out. Now he is looking to enhance his status on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.

In this reshuffled and reconfigured Triple Crown campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Haskell, for the first time, is offering qualifying points (100-40-20-10) for the re-scheduled Kentucky Derby (now on Sept. 5) to the first four finishers.

In addition, the Haskell offers a “Win and You're In” bonus for the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7.

Authentic currently sits in third place with 100 points on the Kentucky Derby qualifying board, virtually assuring him his spot in the starting gate for that leg of the Triple Crown. He drew post 2 for the Haskell, with Mike Smith flying in from the West Coast to ride.

Baffert said the race strategy will be left up to Smith, one of the sport's best big-race riders.

“I haven't really even looked at these horses or what the field is. Going into these races I really don't look at that closely. Mike Smith is the master,” said Baffert. “He does his homework and he figures it out. We'll briefly talk about it. My job is to make sure he has plenty of horse underneath him.

“The horse is doing great. But like all of my horses, they have to get away from the gate cleanly. If he does, he's a horse who has speed. He can go fast, or from the two (hole), I think he can sit off of it a little bit. They key is the break. Once Mike gets away from there Mike can figure it out.”

Authentic, purchased at auction for $350,000 as a yearling, is owned by B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm and Starlight Racing. Recently, Myracehorse.com, which is syndicate selling micro shares, came into the partnership. The deal has generated more star power around Authentic.

“What's making this a little more fun, and probably adding a little more pressure on me, is that Myrachorse.com bought into this horse and they're selling little shares, so all my friends and family have bought shares,” said Baffert. “Walker Beuhler (the pitcher) from the (Los Angeles) Dodgers and (Olympic and World Champion gold medalist skier) Bode Miller are in. They're all texting me, wanting to know how their Derby horse is doing. I think he's a top five Derby prospect.”

While Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown winning trainer, has eight Haskell victories and Grade 1 wins in the triple digits on his resume, Saffie Joseph, Jr. is looking for his first Haskell win and second Grade 1 triumph.

“Saturday is most definitely a big day for us,” said Joseph, who sends out the New York-bred Ny Traffic in the Haskell and also runs Grade 1 winner Math Wizard in the Monmouth Cup and Queen Nekia in the Molly Pitcher Stakes on the undercard.

Ny Traffic arrived at Monmouth on Tuesday and Joseph said the son of Cross Traffic has been has been training well over the racing strip as he prepares to reunite with Paco Lopez, Monmouth's defending leading rider and a six-time champion here, for this race with so much at stake.

Ny Traffic has earned 70 Derby points and is in eighth place on the qualifying ladder. He drew the outside Haskell seven post and is the third betting choice at 7-2.

“Paco thinks the draw is ideal. I love the draw, too. All the speed is inside and he's tactical enough that he can break and see what goes on, and then Paco can make decisions as far as where he needs to be. We'll leave it to him. You always want to break good, and that's key, especially on the dirt,” said Joseph, who on Friday thought he would be at Monmouth Saturday instead of at Saratoga to saddle Tonalist's Shape in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks.

Ny Traffic, second in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes in his last start, has yet to win a graded stakes race. But he has been knocking on the door and now his trainer thinks he may kick it down.

“On the numbers he just kept getting faster and faster,” Joseph said. “He's made progressive jumps and that's what you want to see from a 3-year-old because it means he's headed in the right direction.

“I don't think he was the best horse in the crop, but the way things have worked out, he's just climbing higher and higher. That's our hope. That he'll run another bang-up race (in the Haskell) and then hope for the Kentucky Derby that he can get there. You never know. He could be the best on the day.

“I could see our horse show up and continue to improve himself. As I said, in my opinion he was never the best in the crop, but he just keeps improving and getting better and better and better. That's all we can ask for.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher reported from Saratoga Friday that it's all systems go for Dr Post, who has been working forwardly on the Saratoga training track for the Haskell and will ship in to Monmouth Park on Saturday morning.

Dr Post, the 5-2 early second choice, will break from the inside post under 13-time Monmouth Park riding champion Joe Bravo, who tries for his second Haskell triumph (winning with Lion Heart in 2004). Pletcher is seeking his fourth Haskell win and first since 2013 (Verrazano).

Dr Post is owned by Teresa and Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable and is named for the man who is their longtime family physician and close friend. The colt by Quality Road heads into the Haskell with 60 Kentucky Derby points, good for ninth place.

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Claudio Gonzalez Living The ‘Dream’ With Haskell Contender Lebda

The first time Claudio Gonzalez showed up on the Monmouth Park backstretch, he was a recent Chilean immigrant and a teenager who barely spoke English and was in dire need of any job.

Now he'll roll through the stable gate with a horse he'll saddle on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes, a race that offers the opportunity to qualify for spots in both the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic.

“This is a big race for me. It's my first Haskell,” said Gonzalez, 45, who last year was honored as Maryland's leading trainer for the third straight year. “Everybody dreams of that, to run in the biggest races. As soon as I was starting to learn to be a trainer, that was my dream. It is for any trainer.

“But to have a horse in the Haskell, especially, is very important to me. I worked there on the backside for about 15 years and that is the most important race there. This will be my first time back at Monmouth in two years so it's going to be really exciting for me to come back and have my horse run in the biggest race.”

Gonzalez, who started at the bottom in the barn of fellow Chilean Juan Serey in 1995 and had a short stint with Gary Contessa before joining the operation of Monmouth Park mainstay Ben Perkins, Jr., will send out Euro Stable's Lebda in the Haskell.

The two-time stakes winner in Maryland this year finished sixth last time out in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby.

“In his race in Ohio he went the first quarter in :22 and he got tired,” said Gonzalez, who could have a banner day as he will also run Harper's First Ride in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup at a mile and an eighth on the main track, one of five stakes races on the undercard. “But he came back good. He's been learning all the time and he keeps moving forward. The horse is doing great and has been training very well and that's why we decided to come to the Haskell. He's a classy horse.”

Even if he doesn't visit the Monmouth Park winner's circle after either race Gonzalez is already a proven winner. He beat testicular cancer in 2008.

Through his surgery, treatment protocol and recovery, he was unable to work for six months. He was terrified he wouldn't be able to support his wife and family, but Perkins, his wife, Susan, and those who owned horses in the barn treated him just like family. Their compassion, emotional support and financial support were lifesavers.

“Benny told me right away that no matter what, they would take care of me,” said Gonzalez, who is married with three children. “They said right away that they wanted to help me. They never said no. They always said yes, even before I had symptoms. They paid me every single week. There are not too many people who would do that for someone. All the time, they brought the check to me. They never missed even one week. Every week they brought a check to me.

“For all the rest of my life I have to say thank you to Benny and the owners who helped me. They are special.

“Every time I see Benny, his wife, and every one of the owners I go over and say thank you again. They are the nicest people and they are very good people.”

Perkins, a multiple graded stakes trainer, told the Laurel Park press office at the time, “A lot of my owners are hands-on guys and they're around the barn. A lot of them are people that had been with us for a while. They knew what Claudio was putting into the operation and they were all willing to help out when he needed help. It was a full group thing.

“Everybody pitched in. The guys knew him and they knew the kind of person he was. He's a good family man. He's got a great wife and kids, and everybody was glad to help.”

When Gonzalez recovered and went back to work for Perkins, he decided to try going out on his own with five horses he would take care of early in the mornings before and late in the evenings after his regular job. His second starter was a winner on Nov. 14, 2012 at Laurel, and he got his first his first stakes win in September of 2013 in Monmouth Park's Jersey Girl Handicap.

Now in his ninth year as a trainer, he heads into the Haskell with 793 career victories and almost $22 million in earnings through July 15.

“This is very exciting,” said Gonzalez, whose sole graded stakes score came in the 2017 Frank DeFrancis Memorial Dash with former two-time New Jersey-bred champion Chublicious.

Adding to the incentive of the Haskell is the race's designation of “Win and You're In” reward for the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7. Because of the reshuffled and reconfigured Triple Crown this year, the Haskell Stakes for the first time will also offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 100-40-20-10 to the first four finishers.

“I know, I know. There is a lot at stake on Saturday,” said Gonzalez, who will give regular rider Alex Cintron a leg up in the Haskell. “It would be very nice to qualify for those races and run in my first Kentucky Derby and maybe then in my first Breeders' Cup. But first we have to run in the Haskell. Then we'll see. It all depends on how he runs, and then (if he gets points) how he comes back from the race, how he trains going forward, and all that. Then we can decide what we can do. But, yes, it would be very nice to pick up 100 Derby points.”

Lebda, who was purchased for $100,000 by Euro Stable's Valter Ramos and is one of seven horses he has with Gonzalez, is a longshot in the Haskell, having been installed at 20-1 on the morning line.

But don't count Gonzalez out. After all, the once-jobless immigrant teenager who showed up on the backside and the cancer survivor has already beaten the odds. Twice.

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Blue Grass-Winning Trainer Drury Tells His Story On TDN Writers’ Room

It took a long journey for trainer Tom Drury to get to where he is now, with a GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner and major GI Kentucky Derby contender in his barn. There were years when Drury didn’t win any races, which had him questioning whether he was made out for the training business. But life is good now for Drury, largely thanks to a Bruce Lunsford homebred named Art Collector (Bernardini), and he joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday to talk about his prized pupil and his bumpy ride to success.

Calling in as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Drury was asked how he came to train Art Collector, who ran the first five races in his career for Joe Sharp. The colt was transferred to Drury by owner/breeder Bruce Lunsford following his disqualification from an allowance victory for a levamisole positive under Sharp.

“I’ve been working for Bruce for a long time. We had Madcap Escapade for him as a 2-year old,” Drury said of his time assisting longtime Lunsford trainer Frankie Brothers. “I’ve always done more behind the scenes kind of work, legging up young horses and taking horses when they needed a break and things of that nature. Along that path, he’s always left a few horses with me to race and given me some opportunities to win some really nice races. He contacted me and just said he was going to be shuffling the deck a little bit and wasn’t exactly sure which horses were going where, and just asked if I could help him out, which we were obviously happy to do. Art Collector was one of those horses.”

As for Art Collector’s temperament and development, Drury commented, “He’s really been easy. He’s just a very kind, classy individual, nothing seems to rattle him. He just kind of fell right into the routine. Gosh, he’s probably been as easy of a horse to train as I’ve ever had in the barn. I would definitely tell you that the horse handled Saturday a whole lot better than the trainer did. He’s just been a pleasure to work with.”

Drury has walked a winding road to where he is now, and he recalled some of the tougher times, saying, “It took me a while to figure out what my niche was going to be in the business. I kind of had to do the same thing my dad did. I had a few horses, but I had to gallop on the side to cover the expenses. It’s just been slow coming. There were some years that we didn’t win a race and the opportunities weren’t happening. You think to yourself, ‘Man, what did I do here?’ At one point, I wasn’t sure that I was going to make it as a trainer, but fortunately things turned around and here I am. It’s been good stuff. We never gave up. Finally things just started to kind of go the right way.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers discussed the outbreak of COVID-19 among the jockey community and looked forward to the Saratoga meet. Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch it on Vimeo.

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