Haskell card merits more love from gov

I doubt New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will show his face Sunday at Monmouth Park. On the day of the track’s signature race, the $1 million Haskell Invitational, some 40,000 fans would love to let him know what they think of his plan to gut New Jersey horse racing for good.

Christie wants to end the state subsidy for the sport and is turning his attention to helping the casino industry. Instead of being at Monmouth to help celebrate its biggest day of the year, Christie probably will be with his lobbyist cronies in Atlantic City.

But I digress.

The Haskell is part of the marquee 3-year-old division in horse racing that settles its disputes the old fashioned way: on the racetrack. These colts and geldings get it. Instead of hemming and hawing for a match like the connections of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, their division title will be earned in the Haskell and, one month later, in the Travers at Saratoga.

The Haskell is clearly a truer, more defining test than the Kentucky Derby. In a 20-horse Derby field, anything can, and usually does, happen. With eight Haskell starters Sunday, I foresee the best horse winning.

Trainer Bob Baffert will saddle the favorite in Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky. Baffert has won the Haskell three times, so he knows the drill. His foes will include Super Saver (won the Kentucky Derby), Trappe Shot (won the Long Branch), Ice Box (second in the Derby) and First Dude (second in the Preakness, third in the Belmont). With Belmont winner Drosselmeyer and Eskendereya out, the best in the division are right here.

The most intriguing new horse is Trappe Shot, whom I wrote about after an electrifying win on the Belmont Stakes undercard. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin could have run him in the Jim Dandy on Saturday at Saratoga, where he would have been a short-priced favorite. Instead, he elected to take on the best in the Haskell.

The entire Haskell program is outstanding, with six stakes on the undercard, and Monmouth Park is a perfect setting for such a great day of racing. By comparison, stadiums such as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are where you want to see a baseball game. In horse racing, it’s tracks such as Monmouth Park and Saratoga.

Let’s hope politicians will come around and see that preserving these historic relics, rather than destroying them, are protecting the public trust.

■ CIGAR FEATURED — HRTV will showcase the Hall of Fame career of two-time Horse of the Year Cigar on “Inside Information” at 6 p.m. Sunday.

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