Wildcat Red targets Haskell Invitational

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jose Garoffalo said Wildcat Red bounced out of his easy victory in last Saturday’s Quality Road Stakes at Gulfstream Park in good order and that he has mapped out plans to get his multiple graded stakes winner ready for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 27.

“Right now, the Haskell is our first option,” Garoffalo said. “I hope to breeze him here on the 13th, ship to New Jersey a couple of days after that, and then work him at Monmouth on the 20th.”

Wildcat Red had something left in the tank at the conclusion of his 10-length victory in the Quality Road. The outing was his first since his 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, the only time he’s finished worse than second in nine career starts. The Derby also was Wildcat Red’s only start outside of Gulfstream Park.

“Every time you race away from your home, there is always a concern,” Garoffalo said. “He really didn’t handle the track at Churchill Downs – he wasn’t himself there – but I think Monmouth will suit him a lot better. It’s more like the surface we have here. That’s the reason I want to get him down there early, to see how he goes over that track. We do have a second option just in case, which is the West Virginia Derby.”

A small field is likely for the Haskell, including Social Inclusion, who is based at Gulfstream, and Bayern, who ran off the screen in winning the Grade 2 Woody Stephens last month at Belmont Park.

“Bayern is the horse I consider the main threat in the Haskell, but it’s still a mile and one-eighth and something he has to prove he can handle,” Garoffalo said.