Baby Vino pulls off 28-1 shocker in Haskell Stakes

Baby Vino scored a 28-1 upset Saturday at Monmouth Park in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes, a career milestone for trainer Lindsay Schultz.

Jorge Vargas rode the winner for Cosmo Stables and Delta Squad Racing, and Baby Vino could hardly have been more courageous winning a stretch-long duel with pacesetting Napoleon Solo.

Vargas made an early inside move into the second turn after Napoleon Solo had controlled a moderate pace from the outset, and Baby Vino refused to back down after drawing nearly abreast Napoleon Solo past the three-furlong marker. Pinned down along the rail in tight quarters from the top of the stretch to the wire, Baby Vino put his head in front at about the three-sixteenths marker and never looked like he was going to cede his advantage.

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The winning margin appeared to be about a half-length. Monmouth stewards quickly launched in inquiry into what seemed like a clean stretch run, but no objection was lodged by Napoleon Solo’s jockey, Paco Lopez, and the result stood.

Iron Honor narrowly got third over The Puma, while even-money favorite Further Ado faded off the scene after pulling a good trip stalking outside Napoleon Solo.

Baby Vino won his third in a row while making his graded stakes debut following a blowout Monmouth victory in the Pegasus Stakes last month. Baby Vino ran 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track in 1:50.18 and paid a cool $58 to win.

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