By Jim Hintelmann
OCEANPORT – Sunday was one of the rare times that veteran trainer Bob Baffert was not at Monmouth Park for the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational – but that didn’t affect his continued success in the race.
Bayern, ridden brilliantly by jockey Martin Garcia, turned in a dominant performance in romping to a 7-1/4 length victory, giving Baffert his seventh Haskell title since 2001 and fourth in five years.
“I wished I could have been at this race,” said Baffert during a conference call from California. ”It was a great feeling to win this race. With this horse there is no Plan B and he is only going to get better.”
Baffert has cut back his travels since suffering a heart attack in 2012, but felt much better Sunday.
“Before this, I said that we will be going to the King Bishop at Saratoga,” said Baffert, “but I don’t think I’ll back him up after this. I’m so happy for (owner) Kaleem Shah. He has such a passion for racing.”
Photo by Sean Simmons
Bayern was in charge from the start, taking the lead early and never being seriously challenged.
He led by a length after the first quarter mile and gradually pulled away. He had a three-length lead around the final turn and crossed the finish line in 1:47.82, less than a second off the Haskell mark of 1:47 set by Bet Twice (1986) and Majestic Light (1976). Albano outlasted Wildcat Red for second place.
Garcia, who won the Haskell in 2010 with Lookin at Lucky and in 2011 with Coil, tied Craig Perret’s record for most wins in the Haskell.
“It was really impressive,” Garcia said. “Obviously, we were going to the lead. I wasn’t surprised at how well he ran. We were cruising and when we turned for home, he took off.”
The big disappointment for many in the crowd of 35, 983 was the fifth place finish of Untapable, a filly, who went off as the 7-5 favorite. She was seeking to become the third filly to win the Haskell. The last filly to win was Rachel Alexandra in 2009.
Untapable had won her previous four races against fillies by a combined 31 lengths this year, but was no match for the mares in the Haskell.
“The horse next to us (Social Inclusion) acted up in the gate, so she got a little fussy and didn’t get away well,” jockey Rosie Napravnik said. “We had the widest trip of everybody and she ran a hell of a race.”
The other Baffert-trained horses to win the Haskell were Point Given (2001), War Emblem (2002), Roman Ruler (2005), Lookin at Lucky (2010), Coli (2011) and Paynter (2012).
