Invitations Go Out for the Haskell Invitational
The Haskell Invitational will be run for the forty-first time this year at Monmouth Park on the 3rd of August 2008. This year, thirty-three top horses have been invited to partake in this Grade 1 race that has a total purse of $1 million, of which more than half will go to the winner. One of the horses to have already been confirmed is Big Brown, winner of the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby. He will be up against the Todd Pletcher trained Atoned. Pletcher won the Haskell Invitational in 2006, with Bluegrass Cat and last year’s winner, Any Given Sunday.
The Haskell Invitational is set to be a massive event, as thousands of spectators are expected to attend this thrilling racing event that will see some of the best flat racing horses battle it out over the course that is just over a mile in length. Besides Big Brown and Atoned, other horses, such as Tale of Ekati, Cool Coal Man, Truth Rules and Nistle’s Crunch, have been placed on the list of those who intend to start at the Haskell Invitational. According to the rules of the Haskell Invitational and as a bonus condition of the race, if a horse has won two of the three legs of the Triple Crown an additional cash bonus is given, meaning that Big Brown’s trainer Rick Dutrow and owners will receive $50 000.
The horses that have been invited to attend the Haskell Invitational are as follows, in alphabetical order: Anak Nakal, Atoned, Behindatthebar, Big Brown, Big Truck, Cherokee Artist, Chris Got Even, Colonel John, Cool Coal Man, Da’ Tara, Dixie Chatter, Famous Patriot, Harlem Rocker, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Macho Again, Magical Forest, Mambo Meister, Maya’s Storm, Mint Lane, My Pal Charlie, Nistle’s Crunch, Pyro, Ready Set, Ready’s Echo, Recapturetheglory, Roman Emperor, Tale of Ekati, Tiz Now Tiz Then, Tres Borrachos, Truth Rules, Two Step Salsa and Z Fortune.
Organizers of the 2008 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park are extremely excited over the response they have received in regard to competitors and especially with having Big Brown attending, they hope that this year’s event will be one to remember. As one of the racing calendar’s most anticipated horse racing meetings, many spectators are already gearing up for the racing action and will be watching the contender list closely to find out if their favorite will be in the starting gates on 3 August 2008.
