Further Ado narrowly favored over Napoleon Solo in Haskell
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Further Ado, a three-time graded stakes winner who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby, drew post 2 in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park. The Brad Cox trainee has been listed as the 2-1 favorite on the morning line, though four horses in the field of seven 3-year-olds have been listed at odds under 4-1.
The 1 1/8-mile Haskell will be the featured race on a Monmouth card that includes six stakes, including two Grade 2 races and two Grade 3s. It is easily the biggest day on the calendar at the New Jersey track, with the stakes offering a combined $2.75 million in purse money. The Haskell provides its winner with an automatic berth in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Coming off his disappointing effort in the Kentucky Derby, in which he was bumped around the track while traveling wide, Further Ado stayed at Churchill Downs in June and won the Grade 3 Matt Winn, earning a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I thought it was a really good effort,” Cox said in the press conference after the draw. “The numbers he received out of it basically say he’s the best two-turn 3-year-old colt in the country. That’s what I took from it. I’ve loved what I’ve seen from him since. He’s held his condition very well. His weight’s great and he’s always been a great work horse.”
He is still looking for his first victory outside of his home state, and Cox noted a pair of disappointing maiden efforts at Saratoga last year made the trip to Monmouth more appealing. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride.
Further Ado was one of several Kentucky Derby contenders who did not carry on in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park. In their absence, Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor ran first and second in the Triple Crown race and will return in the Haskell. Napoleon Solo drew post 6 and will open as the 5-2 second choice for trainer Chad Summers, while 3-1 third choice Iron Honor will break just inside of him for Chad Brown.
“He’s going to have to get better,” Summers said of Napoleon Solo after the draw. “Brad Cox said it, obviously: Further Ado is the best two-turn horse in the country, and Chad Brown [and Iron Honor] has drawn inside of us, so he’ll be able to save the ground he didn’t save in the Preakness, so we’re going to have to step up our game.”
A Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, Napoleon Solo finished fifth in his first two starts this year before firing back up the 3-year-old ranks in Maryland. He has since trained forwardly at Belmont Park, most recently zipping through four furlongs in 46.79 seconds on July 9. He arrived at Monmouth on Monday, giving Summers ample time to prepare him for race day.
Paco Lopez rode Napoleon Solo for the first time in the Preakness and will be in the saddle on Saturday. The jockey has been granted a stay while appealing a 30-day suspension he received at Saratoga earlier this month.
Iron Honor, the Preakness runner-up, won the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct in his second start and bounced back in the Preakness after running a distant seventh in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial.
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The Puma will complete the tightly packed top quartet as a 4-1 choice from post 4. The Gustavo Delgado trainee was expected to be a strong contender in the Kentucky Derby but had to scratch shortly before the race because of a swollen pastern and minor skin infection.
The Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner has not run since March 28, when he finished second in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Jockey Luis Saez will step in for an injured Javier Castellano to ride at Monmouth.
Ocelli (6-1), the high-flying maiden trained by Whit Beckman, will make his 10th start in the Haskell. The trainer said the plucky colt is a maiden in name only at this point, as he has finished in the money in three graded stakes and finished fourth in the Preakness. In June, he shipped to Thistledown and finished second in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby.
With more than $800,000 in career earnings, Ocelli is already the richest maiden in the history of horse racing, and a runner-up finish in the Haskell would make him a winless millionaire.
Only two horses in the Haskell will begin at odds over 10-1. Baby Vino, an improving colt trained by Lindsay Schultz, took the local route to make it to the Haskell, dominating to win the $125,000 Pegasus by 10 3/4 lengths last month. He is listed at 15-1 in post 3.
Star Sweeper, the 30-1 outsider breaking from the rail for Lou Linder Jr., finished fifth behind Baby Vino in the Pegasus. He was the runner-up in a pair of listed stakes earlier in his 2026 campaign, including a near-miss in the $100,000 Long Branch at Monmouth in May.
From the rail out, the Haskell field (with riders) consists of Star Sweeper (Luis Rivera Jr.), Further Ado (Irad Ortiz Jr.), Baby Vino (Jorge Vargas Jr.), The Puma (Luis Saez), Iron Honor (Flavien Prat), Napoleon Solo (Paco Lopez), and Ocelli (Tyler Gaffalione).
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