Monmouth Working on $1M Race for 'Pharoah'
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Monmouth Park officials want Zayat Stables' Triple Crown winner American Pharoah back at the Oceanport, N.J. track and are working to entice his connections with a $1 million race in September, the Asbury Park Press reports.
The son of Pioneerof the Nile won the William Hill Haskell Invitational (gr. I) Aug. 2. at Monmouth, but track officials believe that with nine weeks between a possible start in the Travers (gr. I) Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course and Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) Oct. 31 at Keeneland, there is an opportunity for a race in between.
According to Dennis Drazin, who advises the track operators, a race at Monmouth is in the works as part of a multi-race bonus package.
"I think we're still alive,'' Drazin told the publication. "We're trying to get insurance quotes on a three-race bonus package that would include the Travers, our race, and the Breeders' Cup Classic. And we're budgeting that we may still need a $1-million for the race.
"Mr. Zayat and his son, Justin, thought we really did a bang up job and treated them better than any track in the country, so I think we have a chance," Drazin said in reference to the Haskell.