Eddie Haskell lands first stakes win in Daytona

ARCADIA, Calif. – A slow opening quarter-mile in Saturday’s Grade 3 Daytona Stakes at Santa Anita inspired Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux to urge Eddie Haskell toward the front on the backstretch of the five-furlong turf race.

Desormeaux immediately found himself in the company of 5-1 What’sontheagenda, who took the lead by two lengths on the turn under jockey Agapito Delgadillo. Desormeaux had a plan. He moved Eddie Haskell outside of What’sontheagenda in the stretch and guided the 6-year-old gelding to a comfortable first career stakes win.

“I quickened about 200 yards out of the gate,” Desormeaux said. “Agapito went with me. He tried sneak away from me. I was way too loaded.”

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Eddie Haskell ($3.60) finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of What’sontheagenda, who finished a half-length clear of 4-1 Kanthaka, a two-time graded stakes winner who had his turf debut in the $100,702 Daytona Stakes.

Eddie Haskell ran five furlongs on turf in 55.49 seconds. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

Brandothebartender finished fourth, followed by Blameitonthelaw, Buckys Pick, and Horse Greedy.

Eddie Haskell, who races for Jim Hailey and Philip Wood, has won 8 of 20 starts and earned $453,107. Trained by Mark Glatt, Eddie Haskell was claimed by his current owners for $50,000 in April 2018 and has subsequently earned $304,484, winning 5 of 9 starts.

The Daytona Stakes was his graded stakes debut and sixth appearance in a stakes. A California-bred, Eddie Haskell is by Square Eddie. Earlier this year, Eddie Haskell was third in the Clocker’s Corner Stakes in January and the Sensational Star Stakes for California-breds in March, races run at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course.