Maximum Security Heads Field of Seven in Haskell

It's Title Time for the 3-year-old division.

The first of three grade 1 stakes for sophomore runners that will most likely determine the group's year-end champion takes place July 20 with a showdown in the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park featuring the horse that crossed the wire first in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

For about 20 minutes after the Kentucky Derby, Maximum Security was the king of the racing world. After starting his career for trainer Jason Servis in a $16,000 maiden claimer, Gary and Mary West's homebred 3-year-old kept his perfect record intact as he finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Country House in the Run for the Roses, but it was not to be. The son of New Year's Day was disqualified from first to 17th for a bumping incident, and a downward spiral continued June 16 with a shocking runner-up finish at 1-20 odds in the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth, his summer base.

Now, with the calendar turned to July, Maximum Security will get another chance to return to the top of the 3-year-old charts when he faces six rivals in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell on what looms as a hot, sticky Saturday afternoon on the Jersey shore.

The Haskell, a Breeders' Cup Challenge race that will award a free spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to the winner, features a rematch between Maximum Security and Red Oak Stable's homebred King for a Day, who registered a stunning one-length victory over the disqualified Kentucky Derby winner in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus.

Yet with the division championship up for grabs, the Haskell will be much more than the two-horse race the Pegasus turned into. Also on hand will be Joevia, who was third in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), and Mucho Gusto, who is a multiple grade 3 winner but deserves mucho respect for traveling cross country from the barn of Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer with an unrivaled eight Haskell wins.

With the Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) Aug. 24 at Saratoga Race Course and Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 21 at Parx Racing on the horizon for the cream of the crop in the 3-year-old division, the Haskell offers the first glimpse at which horses are improving and which are tailing off as the second half of the year begins.

"The next couple of races between the Haskell-Travers for some and Jim Dandy (G2)-Travers for others will go a long way toward clarifying the picture," said Todd Pletcher, who trains King for a Day.

As reflected in the morning line, the path to victory starts with getting past Maximum Security, the 8-5 favorite who has impressed his connections with more vim and vigor in his works since his loss in the Pegasus when he stumbled at the start but still managed to set the pace.

"I'm feeling good about him," Servis said.

Mucho Gusto, with the Baffert factor, was pegged at 2-1 odds. Michael Lund Petersen's son of Mucho Macho Man  has won his past two starts, taking the June 16 Affirmed Stakes (G3) by 2 1/4 lengths after winning the Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3). Both of those starts came at Santa Anita Park. The Haskell will mark Mucho Gusto's first race east of New Mexico.

"'Mucho' ran a big race in the Affirmed," Baffert said. "Because it's a speed, mile-and-an-eighth track, the Haskell might be doable for him. You have to get him to relax."

As for his magical spell over the Haskell, Baffert said there's one common thread in all eight of the victories.

"Each of those eight times, I had the best horse," said Baffert, who last won the Haskell in 2015 with his first Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah . "That's what it takes."

Bred in Kentucky by Teneri Farm and Bernardo Alvarez Calderon, Mucho Gusto has won five of seven starts, with earnings of $430,800. Sold earlier for $14,000 and $95,000, he was purchased by Petersen for $625,000 from the Kirkwood Stables consignment at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale after failing to reach a reserve of $55,000 at the 2018 Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

King for a Day ran on Preakness Stakes Day at Pimlico Race Course, but his 2 1/2-length victory came in the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton Stakes, which started a surprisingly stellar 3-year-old campaign that followed a 2-year-old season with one win in three tries. In the Pegasus, the son of the French Deputy mare Ubetwereven pressed the frontrunning Maximum Security, and the son of Uncle Mo  wore him down in the final furlong to poke his head into the chase for division leadership.

"We're really, really pleased with the progression he's made," said Pletcher, who trained Uncle Mo. "We've always had high hopes for him. He came back in good order in the Sir Barton and I wasn't sure where his next start would be, but he was training so well, we decided to try the Pegasus and it paid off great. He ran a huge race and beat a very good horse who was capable of crossing the wire first in the Kentucky Derby. It was a big step forward, and he's trained great since. I think this being his third start off a (six-month) layoff will help, and he'll appreciate the mile and an eighth. I can see him taking another step forward."

Michael and Jeff Fazio's Joevia comes off a third-place finish, but it was the most impressive performance in a six-race career that features a stakes win. The son of Shanghai Bobby set the pace in the Belmont Stakes and led until the eighth pole when he weakened and wound up 1 3/4 lengths behind Sir Winston.

Like Maximum Security, the speedy Joevia (10-1) is stabled at trainer Greg Sacco's Monmouth barn and is 2-for-2 at the Jersey Shore with wins in the Long Branch Stakes and a maiden race in his debut. Both wins came on sloppy racetracks.

"He came out of the Belmont in good shape," Sacco said. "He's trained forwardly, and we're happy with where he's at post-Belmont. He's 2-for-2, albeit they were sloppy tracks, but he's breezed well at Monmouth and it is his home track, so we're feeling confident that he'll perform well, and he has to step it up again to compete with Maximum Security, King for a Day, and Mucho Gusto. We're hoping he'll do it, and it will put us in the mix."

Joevia was bought by Daniel Eubanks for $32,000 from the Scanlon Training & Sales consignment at the 2018 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale after Scanlon secured him for $50,000 from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky select yearling sale, in 2017.

Joevia's presence underscores what could turn out to be a pace as hot as Saturday's expected temperatures, which could stretch into the 90s. Joevia, Maximum Security, Mucho Gusto, and King of a Day, plus longshots Bethlehem Road and Spun to Run, all tend to race on or near the lead, creating the possibility of an intriguing and potentially fatiguing early duel.

"The top four do like to run close to the front end, so it should be a riders' race. All of us will have to leave it up to our riders and see how it unfolds when they leave the gate," Sacco said. "Joevia has run well on the lead. He also rated when he broke his maiden, albeit it was five furlongs. But we've trained him off horses in the morning, so we don't necessarily have to be on the lead. I'll leave it up to Jose. Another factor is that it's going to be a hot, brutal day, and we'll see who can handle that."

The draw put King for a Day in a troublesome spot as he landed the rail and will have Joevia and jockey Jose Lezcano breaking outside him in post 2, which should make it problematic for jockey John Velazquez to work out a stalking trip. Maximum Security landed the outside post and could be staring at a wide trip under jockey Luis Saez, while Mucho Gusto and jockey Joe Talamo seem perfectly placed in post 5.

"I like where we drew. From there, Joe can play the break and keep him in the clear," Baffert said.

The pace could work out to favor Calumet Farm's Everfast (10-1), who didn't fire and finished seventh in the Belmont Stakes but rallied from 22 lengths back to take second in the Preakness Stakes (G1).

Don Amache III, Griffin Investments, and Randall B. Reed's Bethlehem Road (20-1), who was unbeaten in three starts before finishing fourth in the Ohio Derby (G3), and Robert Donaldson's Parx allowance winner Spun to Run (15-1) round out the field in a race that figures to provide insight as to the strength—or the zaniness—of a division with three winners of the Triple Crown races and a slew of unanswered questions.

The Haskell is the 12th race on a 14-race program with five graded stakes and can be seen on NBC with post time at approximately 5:47 p.m. ET.

Because of the heat wave in the tri-state area, Monmouth Park may shorten the post parade between races and will have additional trackside hoses and a mist spray in the paddock to cool down horses.

Ice will also be available for patrons throughout the facility.