Haskell Diaries: Back on Track

Monmouth Park was a popular place this Thursday morning, and with good reason: the William Hill Haskell Invitational was only four days away, and the Triple Crown champ American Pharoah was on site and ready to stretch his legs to prepare for Sunday’s big race.
American Pharoah was scheduled to hit the track at about 7:30 on Thursday morning, so Team ABR made plans to get to Monmouth at about 6:30 to make sure to catch all of the action. Upon arrival, I stowed my overnight bag in the press box, then hoofed it over to the backside to see American Pharoah in the barn before he headed out to the track. In the minutes leading up to his jog, American Pharoah circled the barn, keeping one eye on the assembled crowd outisde of the stable tracking his every move. 

After snapping a few frames of Pharoah walking the shedrow, I needed to hustle to the photographers’ area abutting the track on the first turn of the oval to make sure that I was in place to catch the Triple Crown winner as he took his inaugural jaunt around Monmouth Park’s surface. It was a perfect morning for the occasion, with clear skies and a light sea breeze.

The Haskell Invitational contenders had the track to themselves for this portion of the morning, and as the moment drew near for the Thoroughbreds to emerge, a crowd gathered on the rail of the Grandstand to catch sight of American Pharoah and his rivals.

A news helicopter hovered overhead, waiting for the most famous racehorse in the nation to make his very first appearance at the Shore’s Greatest Stretch.

Mr. Jordan was the first Haskell contender to take to the track, and I was struck by his beauty – and his eagerness. He took two laps around the oval at a very strong gallop, and he looked ready and willing to go a few more times as he took his morning exercise.

Next out was Wayne Catalano’s trainee Top Clearance. Another dark horse in the running, Top Clearance is already a winner at Monmouth Park, and his trainer looked pleased as he inspected the colt after his gallop around the track.

American Pharoah, though, was definitely the main draw on Thursday morning, and as he jogged onto the racetrack the fans and racetrack workers packing the backstretch viewing stand craned to catch a glimpse of the Triple Crown winner.

Although American Pharoah didn’t do much this morning – just a short, one mile jog around the track to stretch his legs and familiarize himself with Monmouth Park – he looked sensational. His exercise rider Georgie had to hold Pharoah back as he tried to accelerate into a canter a few times, and the colt looked comfortable, bright and happy as he took a lap around the oval.

After his brief trot on the track, American Pharoah headed back to his temporary home at Kelly Breen’s barn at Monmouth to have his tack (i.e. his saddle and bridle) removed and take a bath. As he emerged from the stable and into the wash area, hundreds of cameras and phones raised to record his every move.

So many people were so excited to see American Pharoah in person, and the atmosphere on the Monmouth Park backside was incredibly energized as the champ basked in his bath time suds.
After Eduardo toweled off American Pharoah’s legs and secured the Triple Crown winner’s cooler, Assistant Trainer Jimmy barnes led the handsome Thoroughbred back into the barn so that they could walk around the shedrow until Pharoah was completely cooled off and dry.

That was my cue to head back to the press box so that I could get some work done and prepare for the post position draw at noon.  A draw is when horses and their jockeys are assigned their post positions and morning-line odds for a race; and for a big event like the William Hill Haskell Invitational, the draw becomes a destination in its own right. 
I made my way down to the Garden Terrace for the draw at about 11:30 since the event was meant to begin at noon; we were putting together a video of the draw, and I needed to do what’s called a “stand up” – essentially me holding a microphone and saying, “Hi, this is Penelope Miller with America’s Best Racing…” and going from there. After a few takes, we had the stand up in the can, so I took the opportunity to snap a few photos, especially of the beautiful Haskell Invitational trophy.

I also got a sneak peek at this year’s Haskell hat, which is great looking and will be a giveaway on Sunday for those attending the races. 
The room was rapidly filling up with media members, racing officials, and Haskell Invitational connections who were all present to find out where American Pharoah and his challengers would start in Sunday’s main event.

Team American Pharoah showed up a few minutes later, and Georgie, Pharoah’s exercise rider and caretaker, agreed to take a selfie with me when we realized that we had matching sunglasses. Style!

When Justin Zayat, racing manager for his family’s Zayat Stables and owner of American Pharoah showed up, pandemonium broke out. He settled himself at the Pharaoh table and immediately was swarmed by the press. (I added a helpful graphic to the second photo, below, to help you spot Justin in the fray.) 

He was very gracious about the whole experience and answered all questions with good cheer. He was even nice to me, and he had to have noticed me perched atop one of the chairs to get the shot above. 
After that, it was time for the post position draw to kick off. Track announcer Frank Mirahmadi was our emcee, and he was welcoming and eloquent as he greeted attendees and began the proceedings for the draw. 

There were two horses who were surprise entrants for the Haskell: Nonna’s Boy and Dontbetwithbruno. I hastily added them to my draw sheet, then listened with rapt attention as the horses’ starting positions and morning-line odds were called out. The whole draw took no more than five minutes, and the end results are here:

American Pharoah was assigned post position No. 4, and his morning line odds made him the easy favorite at 1-5. He’s definitely the horse to beat on Sunday, and it will be interesting to watch what the live odds will be as we get closer to race time.
After that, Frank interviewed some of the contenders’ connections, both telephonically and in person. First up was American Pharoah’s trainer Bob Baffert, who was calling in from California. He bantered a bit with Mirahmadi, then expressed how excited he was to run in Sunday’s Haskell.
Frank then called Justin Zayat up to the stage, and the two talked about how excited the Zayat family, as New Jerseyites, is to run their Triple Crown winner in the Haskell Invitational.

Trainers Ed Plesa and Wayne Catalano also got the opportunity to speak, and both talked about their horses’ accomplishments heading into the Haskell. 

To wrap up the afternoon, the Bill Handleman Memorial Award for Outstanding Haskell Coverage was presented to the journalist whose work around the War at the Shore stood out in 2014. A very deserving Ed McNamera accepted the prize, and was presented with this outstanding trophy as a result of his achievement. 

With that, the Haskell draw was over, and it was time for me to head back to the press box to get to business. Thank you as always for joining me, and let me know in the comments what you think of American Pharoah’s No. 4 post position for Sunday’s Haskell Invitational!