Midnight Bourbon new shooter as strong Haskell field keeps growing

Add another major 3-year-old dirt-route horse to what’s shaping up as a fantastic Haskell Invitational.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday that Midnight Bourbon will make his next start July 17 at Monmouth in the Haskell. The other horses under serious consideration for the 1 1/8-mile fixture are Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie, Rombauer, Following Sea, Antigravity, and Pickin’ Time.

Mandaloun finished second in the Kentucky Derby and subsequently won the June 13 Pegasus Stakes, Monmouth’s prep for the Haskell. Hot Rod Charlie finished third in the Derby and was a strong second to Mandaloun’s Brad Cox-trained stablemate Essential Quality in the Belmont.

Rombauer won the Preakness, defeating Midnight Bourbon, and then took a step back in the Belmont, finishing a well-beaten third. Following Sea has yet to start in a stakes race but after powerhouse victories in an Oaklawn Park maiden and a Belmont allowance, he could jump straight into Grade 1 competition for trainer Todd Pletcher. Pickin’ Time won the Nashua last fall but raced poorly May 28 in the Jersey Derby, while Antigravity has maiden and first-level allowance wins at the Monmouth meet. Both locally based horses would be longshots with this group.

As for Midnight Bourbon, he has only one win from five races during 2021 but has held his own with the top of this season’s 3-year-old class. At Fair Grounds, trading decisions with Mandaloun, he won the Lecomte in January, finished third in the Risen Star in February, and was second in the March 20 Louisiana Derby.

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Expected to be a forward factor in the Kentucky Derby, Midnight Bourbon wound up as far back as 12th in a race shaped toward front-runners before rallying steadily to finish sixth. He came back on two weeks’ rest for the Preakness on May 15, and, perhaps feeling the effect of the quick turnaround, was run down by Rombauer after holding a 1 1/2-length lead at the stretch call.

Midnight Bourbon posted a timed workout on June 6 and did not get much of a break following his two legs of the Triple Crown.

“He’s big and physical. He’d hurt himself if you didn’t do anything with him,” Asmussen said. “His gallops have been very strong, and there’s nothing surprising about his works.”

Midnight Bourbon on June 20 at Churchill worked five furlongs in company with Super Stock, who races Friday in the Iowa Derby, but went solo Sunday through a bullet 59.60-second five-furlong drill. On video, Midnight Bourbon appeared to be merely breezing despite the fast clocking, and one can see why his connections have decided to take their shot in the Haskell. Asmussen said Midnight Bourbon will work twice at Saratoga before shipping to New Jersey.

Turf iffy for Friday

The nominally featured first race Friday at Monmouth could be headed for a surface switch.

Carded for New Jersey-breds and open to first-level allowance horses or $15,000 claimers, the Friday lid-lifter is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf, but heavy rain is forecast for Thursday night with further showers into Friday, and this race could wind up on the main track.

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Quiberon Bay and Saucy Derek finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in a recent open first-level allowance race on the Monmouth grass course and look like the leading duo should Friday’s first remain on turf. Neither horse suits dirt as well as turf, however, and Stefano could be the right entrant for the main track.

Stefano, trained by Rory Huston, finished fourth last August in his career debut, a Monmouth dirt sprint, and came back about three weeks later to win a New Jersey-bred route maiden, a race rained from turf onto dirt. He sustained that solid form through the rest of his 2020 campaign and showed decent spark making his 2021 debut June 18 in a New Jersey-bred dirt-sprint allowance race.

The expected improvement going back out to a route could be enough to land Stefano his second win, with Crafty Don and Lib’s Contento, the latter Stefano’s stablemate, the other main dirt players.

First post for the six-race card is 5 p.m. Eastern.