2024 Haskell Stakes Preview

The Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park is one of the most important three-year-old dirt races of the year, and the first of the division’s top-tier races in the summer season. The spoils are legendary: there is not just a seven-figure purse, but also an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar up for grabs. This is the only chance for a horse to earn a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic while running against only three-year-olds.

This race began as the Monmouth Invitational Handicap in 1968 and was renamed the Haskell Invitational Handicap in 1981. In 2006, it became the Haskell Invitational Stakes, and has been run under regular stakes (and not invitational) conditions since 2020. The winners’ list from the Haskell reads like a who’s who of some of the best three-year-old dirt horses of the last several decades. Superstars like Forty Niner, Holy Bull, Point Given, Big Brown, Rachel Alexandra, and American Pharoah have all won Monmouth Park’s showcase race.

The 2024 edition of the Haskell attracted a field of eight. The only Triple Crown race winner in the field is Belmont winner Dornoch, who gets a rematch with Belmont Stakes second-place finisher Mindframe. Fierceness, the Florida Derby (G1) winner and last year’s juvenile champion, will try to get things back on track after disappointing in the Kentucky Derby two and a half months ago.

Haskell Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 20
• Track: Monmouth Park
• Post Time: 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, NBC, Peacock
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2024 Haskell Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the 2024 Haskell Stakes, including trainers, jockeys, post positions, and morning-line odds for each horse.

Haskell Stakes Prep Race Results

The eight runners in the Pegasus come out of six different last-out races.

A pair of runners come out of the Belmont Stakes last month at Saratoga: pace-pressing winner Dornoch held by ½ length that day over the up-and-coming Mindframe, and they will clash again on the Jersey Shore in the Haskell. The only other runner coming out of a Triple Crown race is Fierceness, who finished 15th in the Kentucky Derby last out and bypassed the Belmont.

One other competitor comes out of a graded-stakes race other than the Triple Crown series. Timberlake was last seen finishing fourth behind Muth in the Arkansas Derby (G1). He went on the shelf after that and makes his summer return to competition in this race.

Two runners come out of the Pegasus, the local prep race for the Haskell. Tuscan Sky posted a dominant 6 ¾-length victory in that race, while Sea Streak will have to bounce back from a well-beaten fifth.

The other two horses come out of allowance company. Just Step On It most recently led at every call in an allowance-optional claiming dirt mile at Parx on June 24. Jasper’s Pride, the only horse in the field who has faced older, was most recently third beaten a neck in a second-level allowance sprint for New Jersey-breds at Monmouth Park on July 6.

Haskell Stakes Contenders

These are the eight contenders in the 2024 Haskell Stakes:

1. Dornoch: The question heading into the Belmont was whether he had excuses for his two previous races, or just didn’t train on: the Blue Grass (G1) was an experiment in rating, and then he didn’t get his preferred spot from a tough rail post in the Kentucky Derby. Dornoch looked like a million bucks in the post parade before the Belmont and ran like even more than that, prompting the pace and holding by ½ length to capture classic victory. The bad news for Dornoch is that he has the rail for the Haskell, and there is a lot of speed drawn outside him. The good news is he has some good outings from relatively inside spots last year, so a good break could still keep him in the mix of speed-loving Monmouth.
2. Jasper’s Pride: He is the only horse in the field who has faced older, which is a point in his favor. However, all of those older horses have been New Jersey-breds—in fact, in six starts so far he has never run against a horse not bred in the Garden State. He has also never stretched out past six furlongs, making 1 ⅛ miles an even stiffer new test. It’s good that he likes Monmouth Park and can pass horses, but this may be too much of a challenge for him to surmount.
3. Tuscan Sky: After two sharp victories over wet tracks at Aqueduct and Fair Ground to start his career, he had a troubled trip in the Wood (G2), finishing a well-beaten seventh behind Resilience. This Todd Pletcher trainee freshened up and did not return until the Pegasus last month. He got a forward trip that day, much like he did in his two wins (but not in the Wood), and drew off to win in blowout fashion. He handled the rail that day, making this relatively inside post a bit less of a worry in itself, though he will be battling with classier speed than he saw in the listed local prep to this race.
4. Timberlake: The Champagne (G1) winner as a juvenile, he looked ready to carry that on at age three when he won the Rebel (G2), but he came up empty when fourth in the Arkansas Derby (G1) next out. He has been on the shelf since that race three and a half months ago. He may be ready to fire on his best, or something close to it: after all, that Rebel win came off a similar-length break, and trainer Brad Cox tends to do extremely well with layoff horses. He is also tactical enough to set a length or two back, let the speed fight it out, and then make a run. In short, he’ll need to come back on this best, but he could be the right price to bet that he will.
5. Fierceness: He has been the equine version of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s girl with a curl: when he is good, he is very good indeed, but when he is bad he is horrid. He didn’t get things his own way in the run for the roses, and his 15th-place finish made him the first betting favorite in the points era to run out of the superfecta. With his early speed and ability to fire off a layoff, there is some chance he could make the top and lead them around. But, he does have pace horses drawn on both sides of him, making it possible that he could get caught in an early snarl and underperform once again. His best can win this, and Monmouth’s speed-friendly profile does not hurt him, but at such a short price, he has serious underlay potential once again.
6. Just Step On It: He has carved out a nice little career ever since getting claimed at Del Mar, shipping east to Parx, and becoming a fixture in the allowance ranks in Bensalem. However, he was well beaten in his only stakes outing at Parx, and also well beaten when going to Aqueduct to face New York-breds back in March. His pedigree does have some appeal for 1 ⅛ miles, and he can get the forward trip that plays so well at Monmouth if he is running at his level. However, even with a switch to strong big-race jockey Florent Geroux, it would be a surprise to see him step forward enough to be a factor.
7. Mindframe: He made his stakes debut in the Belmont and then proved to the world why his connections thought so much of him to send him out for his stakes debut in a Classic. He tracked in range the whole time, and though he could not reel in the more experienced and class-proven Dornoch, he kept running to the wire and finished just ½ length beaten. He gets a post toward the outside, he cuts back a furlong from the Belmont distance, and he keeps big-time rider Irad Ortiz in the irons. Even though he still cedes experience to the entire field, that didn’t stop him from running an excellent race in the Belmont and it doesn’t stop him from figuring as a major factor in this.
8. Sea Streak: Like Jasper’s Pride, Sea Streak is a New Jersey-bred … but unlike that foe, Sea Streak has faced open company. In fact, Sea Streak has only ever run against open company, not state-breds. He has some stakes form: he won the Long Branch, the local prep for the Pegasus, and he hit the board in a couple of ungraded stakes in the past. However, he weakened after attending a sharp pace in the Pegasus and the odds are that he will have to deal with a similarly disadvantageous trip in the Haskell against even better horses.

Haskell Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Haskell Stakes?

A: The Haskell Stakes happens Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It is carded as the 12th on Monmouth’s mammoth 14-race Haskell day card on Saturday. Post time for the first race is at noon EDT.

Q: Where is the Haskell Stakes?

A: The Haskell Stakes happens at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is the signature race of their season.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Haskell Stakes?

A: Bob Baffert has established himself as king of the Haskell, with nine victories in the race, most recently in 2020 with Authentic, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic as well. Baffert does not have an entrant in the 2024 Haskell. Among trainers who are entered in the race, Todd Pletcher leads with three. His most recent Haskell win came with Verrazano in 2013, and he can add to that tally if either Fierceness, Mindframe, or Tuscan Sky wins in 2024.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Haskell Stakes?

A: Mindframe, the up-and-comer who finished second in the Belmont Stakes in his first-ever stakes start, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the Haskell. Both Dornoch and Fierceness are 5-2 on the morning line and could vie for favoritism come post time.

Q: Who is the best Haskell Stakes jockey?

A: Mike Smith has won a record four editions of the Haskell, most recently with Geaux Rocket Ride in 2023. Smith does not have a call in the 2024 edition. Among jockeys who are riding in the 2024 Haskell, Florent Geroux and John Velazquez are tied for the most with two each.

Q: Who won the Haskell Stakes in 2023?

A: Geaux Rocket Ride won the 2023 Haskell for trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Mike Smith. Neither Mandella nor Smith have an entrant in the 2024 edition.

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