$1M Bonus Offered for Haskell, Derby, BC Classic Sweep

With the TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) already offering a $1 million purse, points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series berth to the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Monmouth Park is now sweetening the pot even more for its showcase race.

The track announced June 18 that it will offer a $1 million bonus this year to any horse who sweeps the Haskell, Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and Classic.

Monmouth head Dennis Drazin said the timing of the races provides a realistic goal for horsemen. The Haskell, a 1 1/8-mile event that is one of the richest dirt races for 3-year-olds outside of the Triple Crown series, will be contested for the 53rd time July 18 at Monmouth, where the racing season will get underway July 3. The $3 million Derby was rescheduled to Sept. 5 from its traditional first Saturday in May slot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic will be held Nov. 7 at Keeneland. For the first time in Haskell history, the top four finishers will earn qualifying points (100-40-20-10) toward a spot in the Kentucky Derby field.

"We're in this coronavirus pandemic and sort of a 'new normal' era; we haven't been able to race yet but we start soon," Drazin said. "We've been waiting to carefully see all the choices the tracks made on where to schedule the classics. Ultimately we were locked into the July 18 date for the Haskell and it still made sense to us.

"We do think (the bonus is) something, particularly this year, that makes sense. You have the races spaced out and it's a logical sequence. If you win the Haskell, you're probably running in the Kentucky Derby anyway. Most horses that win the Derby will try to run in the Breeders' Cup Classic, which is good timing after the Derby being run in September. The three-race sequence made a lot of sense in terms of the timing—but you'll still need a good horse to do it.

In 2015, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  swept the three races en route to his Horse of the Year title, though the sequence was different that year with the Derby being run on its traditional date.

"The last time we talked about (a potential bonus) was the year of American Pharoah," Drazin said. "We ended up going a different direction, but it's something we've been talking bout doing for a while. This year, we thought given what's going on in horse racing, given the coronavirus pandemic, it would be a good thing for racing to go out and offer on the Triple Crown trail in a year when it's different than any other time."