American Pharoah puts pizzazz into Haskell Invitational

Three rich 3-year-old stakes headline the sport. But the top honors go to American Pharoah, the 12th Triple Crown champion, who will return to action Sunday in the $1.75 million William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

The Haskell purse was $1 million until American Pharoah stepped foot at Monmouth Park. That’s when the track announced a $750,000 bump.

So is all the money coming from the horsemen’s purse account? I doubt it. With a well-heeled sponsor in William Hill, Monmouth Park had leverage that Saratoga did not have.

American Pharoah (1-5) drew Post 4 in an eight-horse field. Upstart (6-1) is the second choice, followed by Competitive Edge (8-1).

The $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga and the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park drew fine, full fields. If you watch these two stakes and the Haskell, you will see most of the horses that will make up the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby fields in coming weeks.

I worked at Monmouth Park for four years before moving to Las Vegas. It is a beautiful track on the Jersey Shore. It also hosted a Breeders’ Cup in 2007. I hope it has better luck with the weather Sunday than it did eight years ago.

The Breeders’ Cup at Monmouth Park was marred by monsoon rains Saturday. Then as if Mother Nature was playing tricks, the next day was perfectly sunny and mild.

One thing we did learn from that Breeders’ Cup is 50,000 people can fit into the racetrack. Now I’ve read that they believe the Haskell crowd could swell to 60,000, which seems unimaginable.

The ground work for having American Pharoah make his return race at Monmouth Park has been ongoing for almost 20 years. In 1997, trainer Bob Baffert ran second in his first Haskell with Anet. Baffert has returned to Monmouth Park for the Haskell 10 times since. Overall, he has won the race seven times with three seconds and a third.

The two things in play are this: Monmouth Park rolls out the red carpet for Baffert and his entourage, but there is certainly nothing wrong with that. In turn, Baffert has sent his best colts to the Jersey Shore and, like a top sharpshooter, has seldom missed the million-dollar target.

Another angle is Ahmed Zayat, owner of American Pharoah, who lives in North Jersey. I can only imagine the size of his group Sunday.

So the stage is set. American Pharoah before a capacity crowd at Monmouth Park and a huge national TV audience on NBC will seek to add to his historic wins in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Let’s not forget one more player on Team AP, jockey Victor Espinoza, who has had a whirlwind two months of special appearances. When the Haskell gate opens, all eyes will be on him.

One thing Espinoza learned in the Derby and Preakness was American Pharoah does not need the lead to win. So even if there are rabbits in the race, he can bide his time and try to add one more victory to his resume.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him: @richeng4propick