Haskell, United Nations headline familiar stakes schedule
Monmouth Park has made a few tweaks to its stakes schedule for 2015, but the program’s core races remain the same.
The meet’s two Grade 1 races are the $1 million Haskell and the $500,000 United Nations. The 1 1/8-mile Haskell, for 3-year-olds, will be run Sunday, Aug. 2, and the United Nations, a 1 3/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, is scheduled for Sunday, July 5.
Last year, Bayern won the Haskell by 7 1/4 lengths. He went on to win the Pennsylvania Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Main Sequence won the United Nations in his U.S. debut at 8-1. He would win three more Grade 1 races in 2014 en route to an undefeated season. Main Sequence was voted Eclipse Awards as champion older horse and male turf horse.
The Haskell card will include five undercard stakes, three of which are graded. Two 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds lead up to the Haskell. The Grade 3 Pegasus will be run June 21, and the $100,000 Long Branch is July 11.
In all, 17 graded stakes worth $3.5 million will be run at the meet. That is $50,000 less in graded stakes purses than in 2014. The purse of the Molly Pitcher Stakes, which has been lowered from a Grade 2 to a Grade 3, has been reduced $50,000 to $150,000.
Three listed stakes are scheduled, one more than a year ago. The $100,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes, for fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards, will be run for the first time since 2011. It will be part of the Haskell undercard.
A few stakes have been repositioned. The Molly Pitcher, which has been run on the Haskell undercard since 2012, will be run July 3.
The Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds, was moved to mid-August last year after having been run July 4. This year, the Jersey Shore will be run July 25, a week before the Haskell.
The Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks and the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin each have been moved back two weeks. The Oaks will be run Aug. 22, and the Iselin is slated for Aug. 30.
A bonus program for owners and trainers is being brought back this year. Trainers will receive a $300 bonus for every non-statebred starter. Owners will receive a minimum of $700 for every non-statebred dirt starter and a minimum of $500 for every non-statebred turf runner.
The 58-day Monmouth meet begins May 9 and runs through Sept. 27. The statebred stakes program will be announced at a later date.
| RUN DATE | RACE NAME | DIVISION | PURSE | DISTANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, May 16 | THE RED BANK STAKES G III | 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | ONE MILE (TURF) | |
| Sunday, June 7 | THE MONMOUTH STAKES G II | 3 YO & UP | $200,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH (TURF) | |
| Sunday, June 21 | THE PEGASUS STAKES G lll | 3 YO'S | $150,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH | |
| Saturday, June 27 | THE EATONTOWN STAKES G III | F/M 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH (TURF) | |
| Friday, July 3 | THE MOLLY PITCHER STAKES G III | F/M 3 YO & UP | $150,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH | |
| Sunday, July 5 | THE SALVATOR MILE G III | 3 YO & UP | $150,000 | ONE MILE | |
| Sunday, July 5 | THE UNITED NATIONS STAKES G I | 3 YO & UP | $500,000 | ONE MILE & THREE EIGHTHS (TURF) | |
| Saturday, July 11 | THE LONG BRANCH STAKES (L) | 3 YO'S | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH | |
| Saturday, July 25 | THE JERSEY SHORE STAKES G III | 3 YO'S | $100,000 | SIX FURLONGS | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE HASKELL INVITATIONAL G I | 3 YO'S | $1,000,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE MONMOUTH CUP G II | 3 YO & UP | $200,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE OCEANPORT STAKES G III | 3 YO & UP | $150,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH (TURF) | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE WINSTAR MATCHMAKER STAKES G III | F/M 3 YO & UP | $150,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH (TURF) | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE TEDDY DRONE STAKES (L) | 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | SIX FURLONGS | |
| Sunday, August 2 | THE LADYS SECRET STAKES (L) | F/M 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | ONE MILE & SEVENTY YARDS | |
| Saturday, August 22 | THE MONMOUTH OAKS G III | F 3 YO'S | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE SIXTEENTH | |
| Sunday, August 23 | THE CLIFF HANGER STAKES G III | 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH (TURF) | |
| Saturday, August 29 | THE VIOLET STAKES G III | F/M 3 YO & UP | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH (TURF) | |
| Sunday, August 30 | THE PHILIP H. ISELIN STAKES G III | 3 YO & UP | $150,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH | |
| Saturday, September 5 | THE BOILING SPRINGS STAKES G III | F 3 YO'S | $100,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH (TURF) | |
| Sunday, September 6 | THE SAPLING STAKES (L) | 2 YO'S | $100,000 | ONE MILE |