Haskell Preview Day 2025 | Matt Dinerman

Really happy to welcome in. A friend of mine Matt Dennerman

calls the racist there. Oh man, it's just so sad.

I didn't know that. I just thought you're telling me

now for the first time. It's just so brutal.

We found out one of our long time half century sports writers

around here, Matt, is retiring and so we are.

We're going through the emotions right now.

Oh wow. Well, congratulations on it.

That's. Weird.

You know what, Dave Johnson, the well regarded race caller, he

told me there's always life after the finish line, you know.

So there you go. Well done.

Well done there. You go, oh, Rick Bogis getting

retirement. He's Matt Denner.

Matt, three Colts handicap on the socials.

He'll be calling the races tomorrow there at Monmouth Park.

And you have brought this up on socials.

We got to fix this before 2026. Your, your scheduling with

Delaware Park and this sort of stuff, Matt, you know that,

that, that circuit over there is so condensed.

It's so, it's so many great spots.

I mean, Delaware's awesome, Monmouth is awesome.

You know, getting parks and, and different places, whatever, man,

the, the calendar of these horses having to choose, you

know, connections, having to choose where to be.

We got to figure this out by next year.

Yeah, I, I would agree 100%. I mean, I, I think the concept

of Delaware having a, having a big day is, it's a great concept

of course, for any track, but it's just finding the right

schedule. Because I think, you know, I, I

said it, I think that in this situation you're, you're taking

away field size for Monmouth, which they could have had.

But on the other side of the coin, by doing that at the same

time, Monmouth is going to take away Delaware's ability to

produce the best handle and betting that they possibly can

because Monmouth is a bigger market.

So not blaming anybody, you know, just thinking that I think

some, some folks need to sit down at the table and figure out

how does this work so everybody can benefit.

I've always said racing is not a lump sum game game.

It's not like, you know, 20% of the success has to go over here,

30% of the success has to go, everybody can be successful

100%. So it's just about finding.

But you're right though, there's, you know, 6-7 different

tracks and especially in July when Colonial starts up is, I

think that's the biggest problem that this region has is there's

just so many race tracks and they're the, you know, the full

crop is not getting higher. And, and we're, that's just a

fact. That's not an opinion.

So it's about sort of finding the right schedule to to to make

it so everybody can have as good of a product as possible.

Matt Dinerman will be on the call for the races there at

Monmouth Park tomorrow, including a pair of grade

threes, but in all stakes pick 5 to close.

The card starts in race 8 with the Pegasus, which is their

winning in their preview for the Haskell Stakes.

If people aren't familiar, Matt, can you tell people what the

Haskell is in a month? Wait, so I didn't quite hear

you. Oh.

No, just the Pegasus is tomorrow, obviously, but the the

Haskell stakes itself of people. You know, I have a general

sports audience that listens this show.

What is the Haskell Stakes? Well, the Haskell is one of the

biggest 3 year old horse races in the country.

You think about the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont and the

Preakness, which is the three legs of the Triple Crown, but

there are more big races after with that for those that

division and the half goal is a is a very, very prestigious race

that has been run for decades. We saw American Pharaoh win the

Haskell after he won the Triple Crown.

It's $1,000,000 race. It's at a mile and an eighth.

That's 9 furlong, so a 16th of a mile shorter than the Preakness,

which is the second leg of the Triple Crown.

It's a furlong shorter then the Travers and the Kentucky Derby

in this year's Belmont, of course, which was also run at a

mile and 1/4. And the Travers is another very,

very prestigious race. So even after the Triple Crown

series, these three-year olds still have a couple of major

races they can run in with regards to running against

strictly 3 year old horses in their own age before they have

to venture out into deeper waters to face older horses.

And the Haskell is one of those major races for these horses.

So we typically will see in that and surely we will horses widget

horses that have run some very good races in these Triple Crown

races running back in a race like the Haskell.

For example, Goskar who lost very narrowly to journalism in

the Preakness, he is pointing for the Haskell.

Burnham Square who won the Bluegrass at Keeneland, did not

run well in the Kentucky Derby. He is pointing for the Haskell.

So it's a very prestigious race and it's a big race.

And for example, if you're an owner that wants your colt to be

a stallion, if they are a colt indeed, then winning the Haskell

is a very big deal and it's a big resume builder.

I will be there in a month, Matt.

I haven't announced that anywhere, but I am making my

return to sit on your sofa there in the you know, it's.

Beautiful. It's, it's well, it's well, it's

well. And don't you worry as you felt

last year. It's a spectacular sofa, it

really is. Of course, they've been running

the Haskell, as Matt mentioned, since they ran it on August 3rd,

closing day in 1968. It has been a great one since

the graded stakes committee has been around since 1973.

The the winner of that one was our native Miguel Rivera was the

mount. I had the mount that day, but

this Pegasus came up a little a little short on horses just

because Kentucky Outlaw, Barbadian runner will go to

Delaware for the day. I got to ask this, is it smart

for me to just play a $5 pick 5 where I just picked Flavian

Pratt? Well, let's just say this, I

think if you're, if you want any confidence with just picking one

rider, he's the right one. We'll say that.

But he when Flavian comes to town, usually he's going to win

some stakes races. So and he's riding for Chad

Brown in a few of these stakes. And Chad Brown, of course, is

for those who don't know, is one of the most successful trainers

in the world, never mind just this country.

So when he ships, horses typically just perform for him.

Texture. I feel personally assaulted by

Louis having had Matt explained the Haskell.

Lol yeah, no, that was for you. Yeah, that's exactly it was for

you. Garavad makes the trip.

A lynchin makes the trip. And one of the cool things,

Matt, about the Haskell is because of where it is in the

calendar, we get those horses that maybe weren't ready for the

Derby, but might be better for, you know, ready to go in some of

those sticks that you mentioned later in the year.

Whether it's at, you know, Saratoga, east of the Rockies or

maybe out of the Pacific Classic, something like that.

But we see a Garamond, we see a Valentinian, excuse me, in this

field. When you're looking around, you

know, are you looking for those Aqueduct horses?

Are you looking for, you know, horses that are shipping from

Maryland? Is there a general place that

you're looking for, or are you just looking for the best

horses? Yeah, I'm just looking for the

best horse here. I mean, this is a good race

because if you win it, you get your expenses paid for the

Haskell. It's basically a ticket for the

Haskell. So as you mentioned, Lily, I

think the Haskell is a fun race also in the sense that you do

get these late bloomers that are maybe not quite ready for the

Triple Crown voyage, but they're a little better as the year goes

on. And Garamond, who is likely to

be favored for the Chad Brown barn, sort of fits the bill in

that respect. Valentinian, a well bred horse

purchased for a million and a half.

So these horses, some of them in a race like this, just weren't

good enough or or aren't good enough to run in the Triple

Crown series. And they're hoping they can get

a win and sort of springboard that into the Haskell and maybe

they can peek at the right time and win a race like that, or

even just hit the board. So I think that's what we find

with these horses here. And I am looking for the best

horse in this race, fair and simple.

Garamond comes in, he'll be 8 to 5 on the morning line there for

Chad Brown and Flavia and Pratt, a son of Uncle MO homebred for

Juddmont. The ninth race is the Monmouth.

This is for three and up on the grass course there.

If you haven't bet grass racing at Mount Monmouth Park, you are

missing out for sure. Redistricting pokes his head

back into this group. Here, another Flavia Pat Chad

Brown comic. Is there another one you're

looking at in this field though? Well, I think one horse said

maybe a little bit of a price signator #7 I do think

redistricting is the one to beat, and he'll be tough if he

runs his race. He was actually entered last

week in a race in New York, but it rained and the race got

washed off the turf. So Chad Browns rerouted this

horse to the Man Mistakes and he fits a signatory though this

horse had a horrid trip last time out in a stake here at

Monmouth. He's a well bred horse purchased

for a lot of money and he had one back-to-back stakes before

that run in which he did suffer a bad trip.

So I would say he's 1 you want to watch out for.

I think Otago next to him is interesting, comes out of the

cliffhanger most recently at your place.

Do you think those splits were fast enough in that race?

Is that a repeatable performance for him?

I think it's a repeatable performance.

I just think that maybe this field with the best players in

here is is a little bit tougher with a horse like redistricting

or at last who's a horse coming from overseas that Grand Motion

has that apparently is pretty decent.

Highest distinction #8 also comes out of that race and so

does signatory. That was the race Signature had

a bad trip in. But Otago, he's a horse that

needs the right trip and he got it last time out.

This time around it's going to be interesting to see how things

go because it's a little bit of a tougher field.

So I think he will have to step up to win the race.

In the Salvatore Mile, which is race 10, it's a great three out

at your place on the dirt there on the outside, another horse

that feel another floppy Prat feels like a big, big favorite

here. They certainly seem to have

found what they want to do with this horse.

This gives him a chance to be a multiple grade at stakes winner

here as well. Matt, the son of Uncle Moe.

This is a Sprint spendthrift owned a colt in this spot.

Going to be tough to beat this horse in this spot though.

But where would you look? Do you think otherwise?

Well, I think there are a few different players you could look

in here. Of course, Tuscan Skies, a horse

on his best day, he's very solid, but he's also very

inconsistent. I think Trademark is a very

interesting horse, even though a mile might be a little bit short

and he's coming off the layoff. I know Vicki Oliver, she's

mentioned that she's trained this horse really hard, so he's

going to be as fit as possible for this race.

And I also think one that's a little bit sneaky, if he runs

his best race is Surface to air #5I I think Bishops Bay, I don't

have, you know, top 4 picks yet, going to handicap this more

farther in depth. But he's going to be low odds.

He's going to be the horse to beat.

He probably will win, but I think if anybody at a price

you're looking for, it might be surface to air.

And I would say the second most likely candidate to win the race

if Bishop Spade doesn't, if he runs his race, is probably

Tuscan Sky. Samuel Marine is having a

really, really nice meet up there.

What have you seen from him and what do you expect moving

forward? Is this the kind of guy that can

that can win the Monmouth Riding title?

Well, I think he definitely could.

In terms of talent, I think that Paco Lopez has the edge in terms

of just number of mounts and how many live horses he has.

But in terms of talent, Sam, well, for sure could.

And there were two big riders here last year.

There was Paco Lopez, and there was Jairo Rendon.

And it seems that Sam Wilmerin is sort of taken the role of a

Jairo Rendon because Jairo Rendon isn't here this year.

He's taken a little bit of a break from riding.

And Sam Wilmerin, of course. He won the riding title at Tampa

Bay Downs over the winter time in the Florida circuit.

He's a very good rider. He typically puts his horses in

the right spots, they break and he puts them in the right spot.

He doesn't get in a ton of trouble usually, but he's a

good, strong finisher, looks very smooth on a horse, has good

hands. They don't typically get ranked

under him. He's a good rider and he could

do some damage and even maybe a bigger circuit down the road if

he's given the right opportunities.

He'll be aboard surface to air who Matt mentioned that it's

Race 10. That's the great 3 Salvatore

Mile, the Eaton town, which is the town in which Monmouth Park

is situated with the grade 3 mile and a 16th there out of the

turf chute as well. This is for Phillies and Maris 3

and up in this spot. We get a first timer on the I'm

not used to this one, Matt. We get a first timer, an

Argentine bred on the turf. I'm used to seeing these

Argentine breds on the dirt. Of course, that's a Chad Brown

Flavia Pratt. So that one very likely the

favorite. This felt like Matt, if you were

going to go all in this sequence.

This felt like the one if you were going to spread this, This

makes the most sense to me. Yeah, I think there are quite a

few contenders in here. I think there's a couple of the

long shots in this race, like a delightful way.

But yeah, I mean, she's not going to win this race.

And Lady Firefox, she's going to have to improve.

But other than that, I think the other five are in with a really

solid chance. And I think Chad Brown's going

to get bet here. But I also think that this is

the type of race maybe you try to beat him, because I don't

think his two runners in this race, one of them's coming off a

long layoff. He has them ready usually, but

she doesn't have the most outstanding resume compared to

other Chad Brown, Phillies and Mayors.

And Maggie go, again, a runner that is coming from overseas,

but she's coming off the layoff herself and she was a little bit

inconsistent over there. And I think there's some good

runners in this race. So this is one of these races.

I think Turf, Chad Brown, Slavey and Pratt makes a lot of sense,

but I do not think that they are a lock by any means.

Yeah, it's interesting as well. So that Miss Liberty race for

Demaso last out, for example, she just ran out of gas at the

end of that one. But I'm wondering if, you know,

second in the form cycle here. Can't be a little bit closer to

the pace. This daughter of outwork for

Kathleen O'Connell. Interested to see that one

there. I I don't know that that

Kathleen has a graded stakes win on her resume.

So that would be an interesting one there as well.

Whiskey decision on the outside. Another guy that we see a lot up

there at Monmouth in Sammy Camacho.

The close of the card is the lady's secret.

So Phillies and Mares 3 and I'm going a mile in a 16th.

There we see the return of a Colt and Gun song, but we also

see Catherine Wheel, who was second in the Serena song, last

out. How good was that prep for this

race? Well, it was a four horse field

and it was a it was an interesting scenario just

because it was basically a merry go round the whole way around.

But the finish of the race, the very end, was an exhilarating

finish where three of the four horses were noses apart at the

finish. Catherine Wheel at every shot to

win the race. But she was just second best.

That's how I look at it. But she was second best to a

runner that got everything her own way on the leading.

Catherine Wheel almost got there, so I thought it was a

decent enough effort. I think a Colts, the better one

for the Chad Brown pair and Gun Song will be running at Delaware

and Into Amore is going to scratch.

She's running at Delaware. So now we're down to a field of

five. And it sure looks like with that

in mind, Chad Brown basically has two runners in here that are

a class of the race, with the exception of Majestic Oops, who

is a stakes winner from Oakland who's really perked up the last

few months. So I remember she started her

career at Golden Gate Fields, my neck of the woods, years ago.

How about it as a 2 year old? Yeah.

So pretty funny to see her sort of circle up and become an older

router when the beginning of her career she was actually a

sprinter, Louis. So yeah, it's funny how these

things work sometimes. She was a synthetic sprinter,

was she not? Yeah, I OK, I do remember the

God. I can't believe I remember that

man. Oh my God.

I don't know my wife's favorite color, but I remember that.

Of course. But yeah, there you go, man.

Oh man, Yeah, I saw the name Majestic.

Oops. And I smiled once in a while,

man. I have Matt Dinnerman moments.

I'm not going to lie to you. I like, I'll be looking at a

cart at Santa Anita and I'll see a horse that I watched run at

Golden Gate like 8 times and you know, 2023 or something.

And I'm like, I remember Dinnerman called that horse's

name. So yeah, I have these Matt

Dinnerman moments still. I'm sure you have them with

these old and it's sort. Of bitter sweet.

It makes you feel old. Because.

When those moments are going to go away.

So you're just hoping that those horses stick around.

You can have those. I was.

In a beating on Wednesday and someone said Oh yeah, you know,

these Knicks go babies and I was like, Nicks go has babies though

like. I.

Can't do this to me again is another one hit that way, but

he's Matt Dieterman at 3 Colts handicap on all the socials.

Appreciate you buddy. I'll see you in a month.

Hopefully we can do another preview ahead of the Haskell,

but have a have a great time tomorrow man.

It looks like the weather, if anything, what a little rain in

the morning, but you guys will be OK.

Yeah, I mean, I it's funny, around here in New Jersey, I've

never seen such an inconsistent forecast.

Even in Arkansas, it's very consistent compared to New

Jersey. It's like I, I can't, I look at

four different weather apps and I can't figure out which it's

going to be because they all say something different.

It looks like we're going to get some rain in the morning.

I'm crossing my fingers hoping we stay on the turf for all

these races. I don't know, but I'm sure the

priority will be at the very least if we need to, to stay on

the turf, the later stakes and maybe off the turf if necessary

for the other races. I would not want to see that

could be a possibility. But our our main focus is to

make sure those stakes on the turf go.

I would imagine that would be what management and the horsemen

that that's what we're going to shoot for.

But we're shooting really for we're we're shooting for every

race to be on the turf that's scheduled tomorrow.

So we're crossing our fingers, hoping Mother Nature's and isn't

too hard on us. There you go, Matt Dinnerman

will be calling the races at Monmouth.

Make sure you are tuned in for all of it tomorrow.

Get your wagers in. A great take out rate on both

the pick five and the pick four at 15%.

So both very, very playable if you want to get involved with

their wagers later in the car. Matt, appreciate you buddy.

Talk to you soon. All right, Louie, thanks for

having me talk soon. All right, buddy.

There you go, Matt Dinnerman.