Ring Weekend, Albano audition for Haskell in Pegasus Stakes

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The Monmouth Park road to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational starts Sunday with the Pegasus Stakes.

The Grade 3, $150,000 Pegasus is the first of two Monmouth races leading to the meet’s premier event July 27. The $100,000 Long Branch on July 5 is the other stakes for 3-year-olds with Haskell aspirations.

The Pegasus, once a major fixture at Meadowlands Racetrack, drew a field of seven going 1 1/16 miles. But the race lost morning-line favorite Uncle Sigh and Allstar, a 30-1, outsider when both horses were early scratches Sunday morning, leaving just five runners.

The field breaks into two camps, starting with a trio of stakes-tested runners: Uncle Sigh, Ring Weekend, and Albano. Then add a trio of hopefuls facing their first major test: Encryption, Lynx, and Wildcatpleasures.

Ring Weekend last started in a Triple Crown race. He had a bumpy trip in the Preakness, finishing fifth.

Before that, Ring Weekend won the Tampa Bay Derby at 14-1 and followed with a second-place finish at 1-5 in the Calder Derby.

Ring Weekend, trained by Graham Motion, reunites with Daniel Centeno, the pilot for the Tampa Bay Derby victory.

Albano is the freshest horse in the race. He hasn’t been out since finishing fifth (elevated to fourth on a disqualification) in the Louisiana Derby for trainer Larry Jones. He was second in both the Lecomte and Risen Star over the winter at Fair Grounds.

Dan Horn lures 14 statebreds

The $60,000 Dan Horn Handicap proved popular, with a full field of 14 lined up for the one-mile grass stakes for New Jersey-breds. Chunnel, a 3-year-old youngster in a field of mostly consistent veterans, has the rail with potentially the most upside potential. This will be only his fifth start following a maiden win here last month.