The $1 million betfair.com Haskell Invitational will headline $4,340,000 in stakes races that Monmouth Park will offer this summer.
Monmouth Park will launch its 73rd year of racing on May 5. The Haskell Invitational is scheduled to run on July 29 at the Oceanport track.
In addition to the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, Monmouth Park is set to offer several new bundled stakes days, with the Grade 1 United Nations on June 30 now joined by the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin, the Grade 3 Eatontown and the Lady’s Secret Stakes.
“We are committed to delivering world-class racing and events to the Jersey Shore,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which is the operator of Monmouth Park. “Our enhanced stakes schedule and newly created event days ensures Monmouth’s prominence on the national racing stage while providing our live fans with exceptional summer racing.”
In addition to the June 30 quartet of stakes races, additional bundled stakes days will take place on May 26 (Monmouth Stakes, Salvator Mile, Boiling Springs, John J. Reilly); Father’s Day on June 17 (Pegasus, Regret, Mr. Prospector and Dan Horn); and on Sept. 1 (Red Bank, Violet, Sapling, Sorority).
As always, the Haskell Invitational Day program will have a slew of supporting stakes events — Monmouth Cup, Molly Pitcher, WinStar Matchmaker, Oceanport and Wolf Hill.
The 16th annual New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival, with three stakes events, will be renewed on Aug. 26, when a total of six New Jersey-bred stakes races are on tap this season.
In total, 39 stakes, 13 of them graded, will be offered this year, starting with the Cliff Hanger on Opening Day.
