Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
American
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...
in
Oceanport, New Jersey
Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,832,U.S. Triple Crown series and the
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...
. The event currently offers a purse of US$1,000,000 and awards one of the most prestigious trophies in U.S. thoroughbred racing in the
Haskell Trophy
Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically-typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research and industrial applications, Haskell has pioneered a number of programming la ...
.
History
The inaugural running of the event was on 3 August 1968, closing day of the Monmouth Park summer meeting, as the Monmouth Invitational Handicap with a field of eleven horses. The event was won by 33-1 longshot Balustrade ridden by Canadian jockey Eric Walsh in a time of 1:50 flat with the favorite Iron Ruler finishing fourth.
In 1973 when The American Graded Stakes Committee was founded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association with the event attracting high quality entrants the Monmouth Invitational Handicap immediately was given the highest classification of Grade I.
In the 1976 running of the event Majestic Light set a new track record of 1:47 flat winning by six lengths. The track record was broken by Spend A Buck in 1985. In 1987 Belmont Stakes winner
Bet Twice
Bet Twice (April 20, 1984 – March 5, 1999) was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Foaled in Kentucky, he was out of the marGolden Dustand was sired bSportin' Life who in turn was the son of the British Triple Cro ...
won the event and equaled the stakes mark.
In 1981, the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
of
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...
switched the names of the Amory L. Haskell Handicap with this event giving the name Haskell Invitational Handicap. Amory L. Haskell (1893–1966) was the former president and chairman of Monmouth Park.
In 1997, the purse for the race was increased to $1,000,000 and has since remained at that level with two exceptions. In 2006, the event was changed from a handicap to allowance weight conditions and the name of the event was modified to the Haskell Invitational Stakes. In 2002, the purse was increased to $1,500,000 due to the presence of
War Emblem
War Emblem (February 20, 1999 – March 11, 2020) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
Background
War Emblem was bred by Charles Nuckols Jr. & Sons in Kentucky. His sire was O ...
, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. In 2015, the purse was increased to $1,750,000 as it featured
American Pharoah
American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ho ...
in his first race since winning the
Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Trip ...
. The 2015 running attracted a record New Jersey crowd of 60,983.
In 2020 the event ceased to be an Invitational and the name was changed to simply the Haskell Stakes.
The event has attracted many sponsors including
Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
(1996−1998),
Izod
The Izod Corporation (officially stylized as IZOD) is an American midrange clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing, sportswear for men, and footwear and accessories. It is a division of Authentic Brands Group, and is currently ma ...
(2010), William Hill (2013−2015), betfair.com (2016−2018) and TVG.com (2019– ).
Eleven winners of the Haskell have gone on to win championship honors at the Eclipse Awards as best three-year-old colt or filly. Five have also been named horse of the year in the year they won the Haskell. They are:
* Champion three-year-old colts: Wajima (1975), Holy Bull (1994), Skip Away (1996), Point Given (2001), War Emblem (2002), Big Brown (2008), Lookin at Lucky (2010), American Pharoah (2015), Authentic (2020)
* Champion three-year-old fillies: Serena's Song (1995), Rachel Alexandra (2009)
* Horses of the Year: Holy Bull (1994), Point Given (2001), Rachel Alexandra (2009), American Pharoah (2015), Authentic (2020)
Records
Stakes record
*1:46.24 – Cyberknife (2022)
Largest winning margin
* lengths – Verrazano (2013)
Most wins by a
jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...
:
* 3 –
Craig Perret
Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding quarter horses in match races. At age fifteen he began his career in thorou ...
Mike E. Smith
Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the ...
Bob Baffert
Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...
(2001, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020)
Most wins by an owner:
* 2 –
The Thoroughbred Corporation
The Thoroughbred Corporation is a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established in 1994 by principal partner Prince Ahmed bin Salman of the Saudi Arabian royal family. It was based at an facility at Bradbury Estates, in Bradbury, ...
(2001, 2002)
* 2 –
WinStar Farm
WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and horse racing, racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder, Outstandi ...
(2006, 2007)
* 2 –
Stonerside Stable Stonerside Stable is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm and horse racing operation near Paris, Kentucky. Until September 2008 it was owned by Robert and Janice McNair, who also own the National Football League team, the Houston Texans. ...
Zayat Stables
Ahmed Zayat (; ar, أحمد الزيات), (born August 31, 1962) is an Egyptian American businessman and owner of Thoroughbred race horses. He is the CEO of Zayat Stables, LLC, a Thoroughbred horse racing business which bred and owns the 201 ...
(2012, 2015)
Winners
''Notes:''
ƒ Filly or Mare
† In the 2021 running
Hot Rod Charlie
Hot Rod Charlie (foaled April 11, 2018) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Pennsylvania Derby and Louisiana Derby. He also came second in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2021 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and four ...
was first past the winning post but was disqualified and placed seventh (last) for interfering in the stretch run clipping Midnight Bourbon who dislodged his rider Paco Lopez.
See also
*
List of American and Canadian Graded races
The List of American and Canadian Graded races is a list of Thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada that meet the graded stakes standards maintained by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders A ...