2022 Haskell Stakes Morning Line Odds and Betting Preview | July 23
Haskell Stakes Preview
The dust has settled on the Triple Crown season and the country’s top three-year-old horses will now set their sights on qualifying for the Breeders’ Cup in November. Bob Baffert’s Taiba has opened as the 7-5 morning line favorite in Saturday’s Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, but most pundits expect Chad Brown’s Jack Christopher to go off as the preferred choice when the gates open.
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| 2022 Haskell Stakes | Monmouth Racing Notes |
|---|---|
| When: | Saturday, July 23, 2022 (Post Time Unavailable at Time of Posting) |
| Where: | Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey |
| Distance: | 1 1/8 Mile on the Dirt |
| Purse: | $1 Million |
| TV: | Coverage Begins on CNBC at 5pm ET / 2pm PT |
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What’s at Stake?
In addition to the Grade 1 stakes status and the hefty $1 million purse, Saturday’s Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park is part of the Breeders’ Cup “win and you’re in” challenge series, with the winner earning an automatic spot into the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
Recent winners of the Haskell Stakes include Rachel Alexandra (2009), American Pharoah (2015), Maximum Security (2019) and Authentic (2020). Trainer Bob Baffert has won the race nine times, but six different trainers have won the race over the last six years.
Haskell Stakes Field
1) Cyberknife (6-1 ML)
Trainer: Brad Cox / Jockey: Florent Geroux
The only real blemish on Cyberknife’s record is his surprising 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He rebounded from that poor performance with a win in the Grade-3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in June. Other horses in this field will have question marks surrounding distance, but that shouldn’t be the case with Cyberknife. His last six starts have all been over a mile, where he’s won four times.
2) Taiba (7-5 ML)
Trainer: Bob Baffert / Jockey: Mike Smith
The elephant in the room. After sitting out this year’s Triple Crown scene, Bob Baffert will return to the spotlight with the morning line favorite. Taiba hasn’t been seen since that 12th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he went off as the second choice in the betting pool under Baffert’s former assistant trainer, Tim Yakteen. Now officially back under Baffert’s wing, what can we expect out of the Santa Anita Derby winner?
Baffert has the most Haskell Stakes wins as a trainer. Mike Smith is tied for the most Haskell Stakes wins by a jockey. Reports out of California suggest that Taiba looks fantastic in training, but will that carry over into a cross-country trip to New Jersey?
3) One Time Willard (30-1 ML)
Trainer: John Stephens / Jockey: Paco Lopez
He probably won’t be 80-to-1 like Rich Strike was in the Kentucky Derby, but if this horse wins the Haskell, it’ll be just as big of an upset. He’s got home track advantage being based at Monmouth, and he’s got one of the circuit’s best local jockeys in Paco Lopez aboard, but other than that, it’s really hard to see One Time Willard factoring into this race.
4) Howling Time (10-1 ML)
Trainer: Dale Romans / Jockey: Joe Talamo
Can trainer Dale Romans get him to fire at a track outside of Churchill Downs? He’s run four races in Louisville. He’s won three of them and finished second in the other one by a nose to Cyberknife. In three races outside of Churchill Downs, he’s 0-for-3 and didn’t sniff the board in any of them. His best effort will certainly put him in contention here, but up to this point, Romans hasn’t figured out how to make that happen away from Kentucky.
5) King of Hollywood (30-1 ML)
Trainer: Gregory Sacco / Jockey: Nik Juarez
Had his last start not happened, you could probably talk your way into a couple “what if…? maybe…?” angles with this horse. He failed on turf as a 2-year-old, they moved him to dirt, and he enjoyed some success in the first half of the year. Trainer Gregory Sacco had some building blocks to work with…until he finished last and was beaten by 20 lengths in the TVG Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth in his last start. If he couldn’t be competitive in that field, he’s probably not going to have much fun in this one, either.
6) White Abarrio (5-1 ML)
Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr. / Jockey: Joel Rosario
Exact same concerns as Howling Time. He’s won all four of his starts at Gulfstream Park, including the Holy Bull Stakes and Florida Derby. He’s 0-for-3 elsewhere, with a complete no-show in the Kentucky Derby. He was very competitive in last month’s Ohio Derby, where he finished second in a race that’s run at this same 1 1/8-mile distance. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. knows that White Abarrio’s best effort is good enough to win the Haskell Stakes, but can he channel it at a track outside of Florida?
7) Jack Christopher (3-2 ML)
Trainer: Chad Brown / Jockey: Jose Ortiz
A shin injury prevented Jack Christopher from pursuing the Triple Crown trail this year, but he certainly made his presence felt at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park. He won the Pat Day Mile by almost four lengths on the Kentucky Derby undercard, and he won the Woody Stephens Stakes by ten lengths on the Belmont undercard. The speed figures in those races are the best in this Haskell Stakes field. Trainer Chad Brown and jockey Jose Ortiz teamed up to win the 2016 Haskell with Good Magic.
On paper, Jack Christopher has the most talent in this field, and will likely go off as the favorite when the gates open on Saturday. But he’s never run a two-turn race before, and he’s never run longer than a mile. He still has some questions to answer.
8) Benevengo (20-1 ML)
Trainer: Jesus Cruz / Jockey: Angel Rodriguez
(Pictured in the featured image above) It would take a serious pace collapse (Kentucky Derby, anyone?) for the two 30-to-1 longshots – King of Hollywood and One Time Willard – to make an impact in this race, but the same shouldn’t be said about Benevengo. He didn’t race as a two-year-old, but generated attention out of the gate as a three-year-old when he was claimed for $25,000 by Wasabi Venture Stables at Tampa Bay Downs. He’s won three of his first four starts, but this will be a pretty big step up in class.
Starting on the outside of Jack Christopher should help this lightly-raced three-year-old. Chances are, those two horses will be the hungriest to get to the lead entering the first turn. With the outside post draw and a horse to the inside that wants to do the same thing as you, Monmouth jockey Angel Rodriguez should be able to guide Benevengo into a preferred spot at the beginning of the race. His last two outings – A win and a fourth-place finish in the Long Branch – were both over a mile in length, so distance shouldn’t be much of a concern. He’s been stabled at Monmouth since May, so he knows the lay of the land.
Horse Racing Betting Tips
Kelly Stewart sits down with WagerTalk’s horse racing duo of Marco D’Angelo and Sig to discuss some basic betting strategy at the track.
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