Midnight Bisou the biggest star on Haskell Day card

The Haskell Invitational may be the premier race of the Monmouth Park meeting, but the most accomplished horse on Saturday’s six-stakes card is Midnight Bisou, the leader of the older filly and mare division, who will start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Molly Pitcher.

Trained Steve Asmussen and owned by Bloom Racing and partners, Midnight Bisou is perfect in four starts on the year, including the Ogden Phipps and Apple Blossom – both Grade 1’s – in her last two starts. The 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher is being used as a tune-up for the Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

Mike Smith, Midnight Bisou’s regular rider, will be in for the mount. He also is named to ride in a first-level optional-claiming race and in the Grade 3, $200,000 Monmouth Cup.

Midnight Bisou towers over her Molly Pitcher rivals and will be an extremely short price, but somehow the Monmouth racing office rounded up seven opponents, including the Chad Brown-trained Electric Forest, who won the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland in her last start.

In addition to the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Cup, which includes Godolphin Mile winner Coal Front, the other Haskell undercard stakes are the Grade 3 Oceanport, Grade 3 Matchmaker, and the $75,000 Wolf Hill.

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Coal Front, trained by Todd Pletcher, set the pace from post 1 in the Met Mile before tiring in the final furlong to finish seventh. Coal Front won the 1 1/16-mile Razorback at Oaklawn Park in February before being sent to Dubai, and the Monmouth Cup will be the longest race of his career.

John Velazquez will ride.

Monongahela, who was purchased by Michael Dubb and partners over the winter, broke an 11-race losing streak dating back to December 2017 with a four-length victory in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin on June 22. Jockey Jose Lezcano, who will be back aboard Saturday, positioned the 5-year-old much closer to the pace than usual in that race and similar tactics can be expected Saturday.

The $150,000 Oceanport, a 1 1/16-mile turf race, is the first of six stakes on the card. The evenly matched field includes Divisidero, Just Howard, Projected, and the improving Pizmo Time.

Divisidero, trained by Kelly Rubley, and Just Howard, who races for Graham Motion, finished second and third to Doctor Mounty in the Prince George’s County at Laurel Park in mid-June. Just Howard has more tactical speed than Divisidero, which could come in handy over the tighter Monmouth layout.

Pizmo Time has won three consecutive races by a total of a half-length, all for trainer Eddie Graham. He was scratched from the 1 1/2-mile Cape Henlopen Stakes on July 6 in favor of this spot.

The $150,000 Matchmaker has a seven-horse field of fillies and mares who will square off at 1 1/8 miles over turf. In addition to the purse, the race’s top three finishers will receive a breeding to one of these WinStar stallions – Yoshida, Audible, or Paynter.

I’m So Fancy and Valedictorian are both coming off a solid victory.

Valedictorian, who is trained by Kelly Breen, is 4 for 5 over the Monmouth course and rallied from just off the pace to win the Grade 3 Eatontown on June 22. The 5-year-old New Jersey-bred is 12 for 28 in her career and the horse to beat under Paco Lopez.

I’m So Fancy settled nicely and then finished well under Trevor McCarthy to win her second United States start in the Big Dreyfus at Laurel on June 16. Owned by Lael Stables and trained by Arnaud Delacour, she was a Group 3 winner at the Curragh last year as a 4-year-old.

Xenobia has room for improvement after getting pinched back at the start of her U.S. debut and finishing fourth in a high-level optional-claiming race at Belmont Park. Now trained by Jonathan Thomas, she won the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse in Ireland in 2018.

Brazilian import Touriga will make her first start in the U.S. and is trained by Motion.

The Wolf Hill, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint, is slotted as race 9 and is the first leg of an all-stakes pick four that has a guaranteed pool of $400,000. Tricks to Doo is coming off a ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Highlander at Woodbine on Queen’s Plate Day but is well spotted here.

There is a $100,000-guaranteed pick five on races 10-14 at Monmouth on Saturday that includes the Monmouth Cup, Matchmaker, Haskell, a first-level optional claimer, and a maiden race.