After holding off Hot Rod Charlie in a signature stretch duel to win the Belmont Stakes, Essential Quality burnished his place in Brad Cox’s mind as the best 3-year-old in his barn. That would make him even better than Mandaloun, who seems destined to win his biggest races through stewards’ decisions and medication rulings.
Now, more than three months before the racing year reaches its crescendo at Del Mar, certain bettors seem to agree with Cox. Essential Quality (5-1) is the global favorite at one foreign bookmaker to win America’s richest race.
Horseplayers who scoff and believe 3-year-olds should be long shots to win the Classic have short memories. Authentic did it last year. So did Bayern, American Pharoah and Arrogate in consecutive years from 2014-16. But what do they have in common? Or, more accurately, whom? Bob Baffert trained them all. Since he is under the microscope after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test, his status for the Br
Travers a possibility for Brad Cox-trained Mandaloun | The Daily Gazette
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SARATOGA SPRINGS Trainer Brad Cox got a little extra sleep Sunday morning.
That means he got up at 4:50 a.m. and was at the barn at 5:15, after he and some of his staff drove back from New Jersey Saturday and got into town at midnight.
He and owner Juddmonte will take some extra time before deciding whether Grade I Haskell winner Mandaloun will run in the Aug. 28 Travers at Saratoga Race Course.
That means it’ll be weeks before the next step is identified for Mandaloun, who was elevated from second to first in what turned out to be a wild, dangerous Haskell finish in which Hot Rod Charlie barely hit the wire first, then was disqualified.
By Richard Rosenblatt
Mandaloun – Photo Courtesy of Coady/ Fair Grounds
Should anyone be surprised by the official result of the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1)?
Hot Rod Charlie outdueled
Mandaloun in a thrilling stretch duel to finish first by the slimmest of margins but was disqualified for interfering with
Midnight Bourbon (unseating jockey Paco Lopez), and Mandaloun was declared the winner of Saturday’s Haskell at Monmouth Park.
Just what horse racing needs – another controversy in one of its nationally televised races.
This is simply the latest of several unsettling events involving the biggest races for 3-year-olds, starting with the Triple Crown. And when all the final rulings are made, it just may turn out that Mandaloun becomes the Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and Haskell (G1) winner without finishing first in either.
DQ elevates Mandaloun to victory in TVG com Haskell Stakes centraljersey.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centraljersey.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mandaloun wins Haskell via disqualification of Hot Rod Charlie Jul 18, 2021 by James Scully/TwinSpires.com
Mandaloun came up a nose short on the finish line in
Saturday’s $1 million Haskell S. (G1), but the three-year-old was elevated to
first by the Monmouth Park stewards, who disqualified Hot Rod Charlie for
drifting in and clipping heels with Midnight Bourbon in midstretch.
Midnight Bourbon nearly fell after stumbling badly, and
dislodged jockey Paco Lopez, but the Preakness (G1) runner-up managed to stay
on his feet and appeared to escape major injury. Lopez was shaken up, but he is
expected to ride the next day.