2026 Haskell Contenders at Monmouth Park

$1M Haskell Stakes A "Win and You're In" For Breeders' Cup Classic

The biggest event at Monmouth Park - the $1 million Haskell Stakes, is set to celebrate its 59th renewal on Saturday, July 18.

The Haskell is a part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series, with the race winner receiving an automatic spot with fees paid for the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, October 31 at Keeneland.

NAPOLEON SOLO

Career Record: 5-3-0-0

Career Highlights: This year's Grade 1 Preakness champ for local connections was subsequently sold but still aims to headline this year's Haskell field. Perennial Monmouth Park leading rider Paco Lopez won his first Triple Crown race in that Preakness and now will look to add his first Haskell.

Owner: ESPOIR USA, Inc.

Trainer: Chad Summers

Jockey: Paco Lopez

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BABY VINO

Career Record: 6-2-2-1

Career Highlights: Won the Pegasus Stakes, the main, local Haskell prep, by 10 3/4 lengths. He's never faced Grade 1 competition, but he's improving with every start and certainly has the look of a horse ready for primetime.

Owner: Cosmo Stables

Trainer: Lindsay Schultz

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IRON HONOR

Career Record: 4-2-1-0

Career Highlights: Was on the Kentucky Derby trail after his win in the Grade 3 Gotham over the winter but decided to wait for the Grade 1 Preakness where he finished a solid second behind Napoleon Solo. Showed a bit of a new, rating tactic last time with the blinkers off, and that race proved he fits with the best of his division.

Owner: St. Elias Stable, William H. Lawrence & Cathi Glassman

Trainer: Chad Brown

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THE PUMA

Career Record: 4-1-2-1

Career Highlights: Was a "buzz" horse entering the Kentucky Derby until he was withdrawn. Spent his winter battling the best in South Florida with a Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner and Grade 1 Florida Derby runner-up finish to his credit. Goes out for the same connections who ran second in the 2023 Haskell with Mage.

Owner: OGMA Investments LLC, JR Ranch and High Step Racing LLC

Trainer: Gustavo Delgado

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CRUDE VELOCITY

Career Record: 4-3-1-0

Career Highlights: He's a Grade 1 winner around one turn having taken the Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Lost the rematch with Englishman on Belmont Stakes Day and now appears prime to test two turns in a race his trainer has won a record nine times, including once with Bayern, a horse exiting the G1 Woody Stevens just like Crude Velocity is.

Owner: CSLR Racing Partners

Trainer: Bob Baffert

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FURTHER ADO

Career Record: 8-4-1-1

Career Highlights: He's a Grade 2 winner at age two, but really burst onto the scene with an 11-length romp in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland this spring. Was sent off the favorite when finishing 11th in the Kentucky Derby, but bounced back nicely with a two-length win at odds-on in the Grade 3 Matt Winn last out.

Owner: Spendthrift Farm LLC

Trainer: Brad Cox

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HEDGE RATIO

Career Record: 6-3-0-0

Career Highlights: Was a last-out winner of the Long Branch, a local prep for the Haskell Stakes, popping a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. That gives him two wins in a row for a trainer who certainly knows how to get his horses to perform on the biggest stage.

Owner: Klaravich Stables, Inc.

Trainer: Chad Brown

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SCHOOLYARDSUPERMAN

Career Record: 6-1-3-0

Career Highlights: Earned a free entry into the Haskell with his second-place finish in the Pegasus Stakes behind Baby Vino. Two back finished behind stablemate, and possible Haskell participant, Hedge Ratio at Aqueduct.

Owner: Hit the Bid Racing Stable and CMNWLTH

Trainer: Chad Brown

Baby Vino Wins Pegasus - Haskell Next?

June 13 - A rising star and an established one shared the spotlight Saturday on Monmouth Park's Haskell Preview Day, with Grade 1 winner East Avenue regaining his winning ways and Baby Vino possibly punching his ticket to the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes.

East Avenue, prominent on the Triple Crown trail a year ago but winless in his past four starts, showed his championship fiber by digging in to beat multiple graded stakes winner Bishops Bay by a nose in the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile.

Baby Vino, meanwhile, continued his upward arc by romping to a 10¾-length victory in the $125,000 Pegasus Stakes, earning his first stakes win after leaving the Maiden Special Weight ranks in his last start. The Pegasus serves as the final local prep for the $1 million Haskell Stakes on July 18.

Baby Vino, ridden by Lopez, hinted at a brighter future, covering the mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.36 wrapped up.

"Paco rode him like he was on the best horse and it worked out very well," said winning trainer Lindsay Schultz. "He showed us another gear today. He's maturing with each start. He had a lot of trouble in some of his previous starts but this was a nice trip. As long as he's training well, it makes sense to run him in the Haskell. He's already run well on this track."

With free entry and start fees as a bonus for the victory, Schultz said the Haskell was "the logical next spot if the horse is doing well."

Baby Vino paid $7.80 to win.

Crude Velocity to target Grade 1 Haskell Stakes

June 7 - Crude Velocity defeated Englishman by 3 3/4 lengths one race prior in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 2 at Churchill Downs. A stretch out in distance appears to be on tap for the now 3-for-4 son of Beau Liam in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at nine furlongs for sophomores, on July 18 at Monmouth Park.

"I'm going to run him in the Haskell," Baffert said. "We're going to stretch. I was going to run him in the Matt Winn today [Sunday at Churchill Downs], but I thought maybe, I was hoping that Englishman wouldn't show up there [at Saratoga], but then he showed up. We'll see."

Renegade Possible for Haskell per Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher

June 7 - Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher reported that Renegade and Powershift, respectively third and ninth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, exited the race in "good order" and shared plans for both colts.

Renegade, the 8-5 favorite in the Belmont Stakes off his runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, raced behind horses in seventh, angled outside to launch his bid under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. turning for home before he was outkicked by top-two finishers Golden Tempo and Commandment, finishing 5 1/4-lengths behind the winner. Renegade, who is owned by Repole Stable and Robert and Lawana Low, won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby by four lengths in April at Oaklawn Park.

"Renegade got the position we thought he would," said Pletcher. "He was always sort of surrounded by horses and covered up behind horses. He was absolutely caked in dirt. It wasn't a bad trip; it was just one of those trips that [he] never got into a cozy position. I thought he kicked turning for home, but he did not have that sustained drive he had in Arkansas and at Churchill. He ended up being a little bit flat and I think a little more time would have benefited him, in retrospect."

Pletcher said he is considering multiple options for Renegade, including the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes July 18 at Monmouth Park, the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun August 1 at Saratoga Race Course, or training up to Saratoga's Grade 1 Travers August 29.

The Puma's Next Race Will Be The Haskell Stakes at Monmouth

May 13 - Trainer Gustavo Delgado has announced that Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner The Puma, co-owned by OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, High Step Racing, TCC Stables, and Bruce Zoldan, will next race in the G1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 18..

The son of Essential Quality was a race-day scratch from the 2026 Kentucky Derby on May 2 with a minor skin infection and was placed on the Kentucky vet's list. Delgado shared a video of The Puma departing Churchill Downs on May 13 for Gulfstream Park.

The chestnut colt debuted in January at Gulfstream, where he was beaten by eventual Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Chief Wallabee. He was then third to Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade in the Sam F. Davis Stakes before capturing the G3 Tampa Bay Derby by three-quarters of a length. In his final prep for the first Saturday in May, The Puma was second by a nose in the G1 Florida Derby. Javier Castellano was aboard in all four starts.

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