One horse has built an impressive record by trouncing lesser foes and gradually stepping up in class, while the other has run courageously against the best 3-year-olds in the country but has come up just short. Trappe Shot and First Dude are among the most talented sophomores in the nation, but each is without a graded stakes win.
That could change Sunday when the Florida-bred colts run in Monmouth Park’s signature race, the $1 million Haskell Invitational (G1), a 1 1/8-mile test that drew a field of eight 3-year-olds. Trappe Shot, a son of Tapit bred by Ocala’s Hobeau Farm, is a 3-1 choice on the morning line, while First Dude, a son of Stephen Got Even and a homebred for Donald Dizney of Double Diamond Farm in Ocala, is at 6-1.
Trappe Shot ran fifth in his career debut at Saratoga last year, his only start as a juvenile, but is 4-for-4 this year. He made two starts at Gulfstream Park winning a $35,000 maiden special weight race and a $37,000 allowance by a combined 23 lengths, and he’s been even better since heading to the Jersey Shore.
Trappe Shot has scored Beyer Speed Figures of 105 in each of his starts at Monmouth Park, the highest marks for any horse entered in the Haskell. He won a $62,000 allowance by four lengths in June before making his stakes debut in the $167,000 Long Branch Stakes on July 10 and reporting home a 2 ½-length victor.
The Long Branch covered 1 1/16 miles, the longest race of his career. Trappe Shot has won four of his five starts and earned $187,050 for owner Mill House. He’ll have usual rider Alan Garcia aboard when he breaks from the outside post.
“He is the ‘now’ horse,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, “and he’s won four in a row, but he’s never run against Grade 1 horses. We know he likes the track, and he should handle the distance, but the competition is different. There are a few proven horses in there. Whoever wins this race will move to the head of the 3-year-old class.”
First Dude is the only horse to finish in the money in two of this year’s Triple Crown races, having set the pace in both the Preakness (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1). He finished second in the Preakness, three-quarters of a length behind Lookin At Lucky, and was third in the Belmont, a length behind the victorious Drosselmeyer.
First Dude has won only one of his eight starts but has been off the board just once. He’s earned $462,160. The Haskell will be his fifth straight start in a Grade 1 race. First Dude drew the No. 4 post and will have regular rider Ramon Dominguez aboard.
“He’s training very well,” Romans said. “He seems to have come out of the Triple Crown as good or better than he went in. He doesn’t have to be on the lead, but if he breaks sharply, he’ll be there. If someone wants to go, then he can sit off.”
Lookin At Lucky will be making his first start since winning the Preakness and was installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite. He drew the rail and will have Martin Garcia aboard for the second straight race.
The Bob Baffert trainee has won seven of his 10 starts for a field-leading $2.11 million. A sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he drew the unfavorable No. 1 post is the only time the son of Smart Strike has finished out of the money.
Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (3-1) will be making his first start since tiring to finish eighth in the Preakness. Derby runner-up Ice Box (9-2) also returns for the Haskell after finishing ninth as the favorite in the Belmont.
The field also includes Afleet Again (12-1), the runner-up in the Pegasus Stakes (G3) at Monmouth last out; Our Dark Knight (15-1), who won an allowance at Monmouth last month; and Uptowncharlybrown (15-1), who finished fifth in the Belmont but was demoted to last place after losing a weight pad during the race.
n Sunday’s Monmouth card also features six supporting stakes races worth a total of $1 million, and Florida will be well represented.
In the $200,000 Oceanport Stakes (G3), Florida-bred Roman Tiger will aim for his first graded stakes win. The son of Tiger Ridge, bred by Tony Bowling and Bobby Dodd, was the runner-up behind Get Serious in the Monmouth Stakes (G3) in June and faces that rival again today.
Roman Tiger has won two of his 13 starts for $279,480. The 5-year-old gelding faces seven other 3-year-olds and up in the 1 1/16-mile turf test.
The $150,000 Teddy Drone Stakes, a six-furlong sprint, drew a field of 10 3-year-olds and up, including Florida-bred Mannington. The 5-year-old gelding by Delaware Township was bred by Summerfield’s Padua Stables and has won eight of his 36 starts for $351,688. He captured the $75,000 Sunshine State Stakes at Gulfstream Park in March.
Florida-breds Quiet Meadow and Unbridled Essence will run in the $200,000 Matchmaker Stakes (G3), a nine-furlong turf race that drew a field of 11 fillies and mares ages 3 and up.
Quiet Meadow is a 5-year-old daughter of El Prado bred by the late Arthur I. Appleton at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. She’s won three of her 18 starts for $256,408. She’s been the runner-up in both of her starts on Monmouth’s lawn, including a neck defeat against All Is Vanity in last summer’s Eatontown Handicap (G3).
Unbridled Essence is a 4-year-old Essence of Dubai filly bred at John J. Brunetti’s Red Oak Farm in Ocala. She’s won four of her 14 starts for $158,597. She enters the Matchmaker off a win in a $79,800 allowance going a mile on Monmouth’s turf course in June.
Florida-breds Lady Alexander and Rated Fiesty are set for the $150,000 Regret Stakes, a six-furlong sprint that drew a field of nine fillies and mares ages 3 and up.
Lady Alexander, a 4-year-old daughter of Exchange Rate, is 4-for-6 on Monmouth’s main track, including stakes wins in the $94,000 Red Cross in June and the $60,000 Mongo Queen last summer. Bred by Millard Winterrowd, the filly has won six of her 15 starts for $262,508.
Rated Fiesty is a 5-year-old Exchange Rate mare bred by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable. She’s won four of her 12 starts for $287,180. Her biggest win came in the Debutante (G3) at Churchill Downs in 2007.
Florida-breds Thunder Brew and Houngun are entered in the $150,000 Jersey Derby, a 1 1/16-mile turf race that drew a field of nine 3-year-olds.
Thunder Brew, a son of Milwaukee Brew bred by Thomas L. Croley, is 5-for-10 on turf, including a win in the $94,000 Lamplighter Stakes at Monmouth in May. Houngun, a Tiger Ridge colt bred by KTC Stable, Denise Duhamel and Susan Hunter, was third in the Lamplighter and seeks his first stakes score.
Florida-bred Pampered Sir will run in the $150,000 Majestic Light Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race that drew a field of eight 3-year-olds and up. Pampered Sir is a 6-year-old, gelded son of Ocala Stud Farm stallion Concerto bred by Joseph H. Pierce Jr. He’s finished in the money in seven of his 10 starts on Monmouth’s main track and will try for his first stakes victory.
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