FIRST DUDE, AFLEET AGAIN ALSO ON TRACK; ZITO PAIR DUE TO ARRIVE SATURDAY

John Heims
Monmouth Park

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The field has begun to assemble at Monmouth Park for Sunday’s $1 million IZOD Haskell Invitational (G1). Three of the eight starters – Lookin at Lucky, First Dude and Afleet Again – galloped over the fast main track here today. The field for the 43rd running of the Haskell Invitational, in post position order, with jockey and morning line odds, is as follows:

LOOKIN AT LUCKY, Post 1, Martin Garcia, 5-2 - The Smart Strike colt, who won the Preakness last out on May 15, galloped a mile and an eighth over the fast main track at Monmouth at 6:30 Friday morning. The Bob Baffert-trained runner arrived Thursday afternoon from California.

Jim Barnes, Baffert’s well-traveled assistant, was happy with the way the colt looked after the ship.

“He’s a good horse to travel with,” Barnes said. “We just showed him the track this morning and let him gallop an easy mile and an eighth.”

Barnes said there are no plans to paddock school the colt before the Haskell.

“We schooled him at Del Mar before we left, and he was fine,” Barnes said.

Baffert was not happy with Lookin at Lucky’s inside post, but the colt has overcome poor posts in the past, and won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last year from Post 1 en route to his title as Eclipse Award 2-year-old champion.

Lookin at Lucky has been working steadily and fast at Del Mar for this assignment, with his last breeze * five furlongs in :58 3/5 at Del Mar on Monday * one of his best.

He is the favorite in this running of Monmouth’s main event as Baffert looks to become the leading Haskell trainer of all time with a fourth win. Right now his three winners (Point Given, War Emblem and Roman Ruler) put him in a tie with Jimmy Croll and Sonny Hine.

AFLEET AGAIN, Post 2, Joe Bravo, 12-1 - The big gray colt by Afleet Alex was out on the Monmouth track after the first break Friday morning and galloped a mile and a half with former jockey Mary Jo Brennan aboard with assistant trainer John Gaffney looking on.

“He’s so big and has such a long stride that he just eats up the ground,” Brennan said.

Butch Reid trains Afleet Again, who was bred and is owned by the same syndicate that owned classic winner Afleet Alex.
 
The colt won the Grade 3 Withers Stakes in April, and finished third in the Spend a Buck Stakes and second in the Pegasus Stakes (G3) at Monmouth in May.
 
Reid feels Afleet Again’s chances are improved because the colt is stabled at Monmouth and trains over the track on a daily basis.

ICE BOX, Post 3, Jose Lezcano, 9-2 – The Nick Zito-trained son of Pulpit, who was a fast-closing second to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby, has been training at Saratoga since he finished ninth as the favorite in the Belmont Stakes. He completed his Haskell prep with a half-mile breeze in :48 4/5 over a muddy Spa strip last Sunday.
The colt is scheduled to ship into Monmouth on Saturday morning.

FIRST DUDE, Post 4, Ramon Dominguez, 6-1 – The strapping bay colt was out on the Monmouth track after the second break Friday looking big and beautiful as he galloped easily around the oval.

Jockey Tammy Fox, wife of trainer Dale Romans, was aboard the son of Stephen Got Even, who arrived at Monmouth on Wednesday.

“He’s doing great,” Fox said. “We went an easy mile and a half this morning.”

First Dude, whose only lifetime victory came in a Gulfstream maiden race in January, looked like a horse on the verge of greatness in the Triple Crown events as he finished second to Lookin at Lucky in the Preakness * beaten less than a length * and third behind Drosselmeyer and Fly Down in the Belmont Stakes, beaten one length for all the money.

He trained up to the Haskell at Churchill Downs, where Romans had his horses stabled all spring.

OUR DARK KNIGHT, Post 5, Elvis Trujillo, 15-1 – Nick Zito trains the son of Medaglia d’Oro, who prepped for the Haskell by winning a Monmouth allowance race on June 19. Before that, the lightly raced colt finished second to Ibboyee in the Spend a Buck Stakes here.

Our Dark Knight completed his training at Saratoga by working in company with Ice Box last Sunday, and will ship in with his stablemate on Saturday morning.

SUPER SAVER, Post 6, Calvin Borel, 3-1 – The Kentucky Derby winner, who hasn’t run since he was eighth behind Lookin at Lucky in the Preakness, is scheduled to ship down from Saratoga early Sunday morning.

The colt by Maria’s Mon gave trainer Todd Pletcher his first-ever win in the Run for the Roses, and will be trying to get Pletcher his third Haskell trophy. Pletcher, who is Monmouth’s leading trainer this meet, has won the Haskell with Bluegrass Cat and Any Given Saturday.

Super Saver has been training at Saratoga the past several weeks and completed his Haskell work with five furlongs in 1:00 flat last Monday.

UPTOWNCHARLYBROWN, Post 7, Rajiv Maragh, 15-1 – The Limehouse colt, who was on the Triple Crown trail early this year and finished a close fifth in the Belmont Stakes (beaten just 3 lengths), has been training at Belmont Park and will ship in from that track on Sunday morning.

Kiaran McLaughlin took over the training of Uptowncharlybrown in June. The colt was trained through the early part of his career by Monmouth regular Alan Seewald, who passed away suddenly in April. Linda White, who had been assistant to Mr. Seewald, saddled the colt for a third place finish in the Grade 2 Lexington at Keeneland on April 17.

Uptowncharlybrown remains a sentimental favorite for the Haskell because of Alan Seewald, whose ashes were scattered in the Monmouth Park winner’s circle in May.

TRAPPE SHOT, Post 8, Alan Garcia, 3-1 – The lightly raced colt (just five lifetime starts), won Monmouth’s Long Branch Stakes last out for his fourth straight win. His current form has made him co-second choice in the Haskell, although this will be his first try in a graded stakes race.

Trappe Shot, a son of Tapit, has been training at Saratoga in recent weeks, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said the colt will ship down from the Spa early Sunday morning.