By Rich Chrampanis
OCEANPORT – With a crowd capped at 5,000 due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 53rd edition of the TVG.com Haskell Stakes was still “authentic” thanks to a thrilling finish and a record-setting handle from horse racing fans across the country.
Authentic, the 3-5 favorite, led wire to wire and held off a late charge from Ny Traffic to win in a photo finish Saturday, giving famed trainer Bob Baffert a record ninth Haskell victory. The last time Baffert scored a Haskell win was in 2015 when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah won on the Jersey Shore. Over 60,000 fans flocked to Oceanport to witness hat historic win. The 2020 Haskell saw $20,479,392 wagered on the 14-race card, topping the 2015 handle of $20,024,509.
“The reality is that this will go down in history as one of the most challenging yet gratifying Haskell days in history,” said John Heims, Monmouth Park’s racing secretary and director of racing. “We are grateful to the governor for his leadership and for permitting us the ability to have race fans to enjoy this terrific experience and be part of a day that will long be remembered.”
Authentic made the journey from Southern California for the first time and locked up a spot in September’s Kentucky Derby, along with a slot in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. Leading from start to finish, Authentic built a two-length lead in the final 1⁄8 mile before Ny Traffic surged to the finish line and nearly won the race.
“I was sure I got him 100 percent,” NY Traffic jockey Paco Lopez said after the race. “I can’t believe it. I’m surprised we didn’t win. I really thought we got him.”
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was able to hang on for the win that paid $3.20 for a $2 bet.
“He’s a colt with an abundance of talent. Ability is something he does not lack. He’s got a lot of it,” said Smith. “But what he is lacking right now, he’s learning. He’s growing up. He sees things. Down the backside if you get a chance to look at the head on there are a lot of shadows back there from the sun at this point. He looked at every single one of them and he wouldn’t let me get him down close to the fence because he was looking at them too much.
“Then he kicked away like I wanted him to heading for home. Once that horse started to come at him, I wanted to get into him a little bit just to get him going. If he was going to start playing again I thought ‘I just better stay riding and hope he could hang on at that point’ which he did. I rode him well past the wire just to show him to keep running. I didn’t want to think it was over when he hit the wire.”
Like many horse racing fans, Baffert was on the edge of his seat watching the race from his home in Southern California, not making the cross country trip to the Jersey Shore.
“I’m just so proud of him, but I was like everybody else telling Mike, ‘You better stay after him. You’d better keep busy.’ He (Authentic) looks at everything, as we’ve seen in his past races,” said Baffert. “I could tell he wasn’t focused going down the stretch but he held on. He saw that horse coming to him and he took off again.
“Jimmy (assistant trainer Barnes) said he came back not really that tired. We had to ship. We’re learning about the horse. He might need a little blinker, though. He was playing in the stretch. I could tell he wasn’t laying it down. He was just playing out there and that horse came to him and kept him going. But when he got (out on an easy lead) by himself like that I thought for sure he was just going to go on. But he ran a great race.”
Dr Post, trained by Todd Pletcher, finished third, 41⁄2 lengths behind Ny Traffic. All three horses have secured spots in September’s Kentucky Derby.
The end result was a tough loss for the connections of Ny Traffic, but trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. found solace in the performance and the 40 Kentucky Derby qualifying points earned.
“I thought he ran good,” Joseph said. “Coming into this race he missed a work and I was a little concerned: Did we have enough? At the quarter pole you could see Authentic was cruising and my horse was off the bridle.
“To dig down and dig deep you can’t be any more proud of that. I was pretty sure we lost when I first saw it. We were a head in front right after the bob at the wire. I just want to keep going forward. That’s the important thing. Hopefully all goes well to the Kentucky Derby and we’re living the dream.”
The 2020 Haskell Invitational was truly unique for so many reasons, including the limited crowd and a rare July preview for the Kentucky Derby. Authentic and Ny Traffic showed Saturday they are worthy of being contenders in the Run for the Roses.
The article originally appeared in the July 23 – 29, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
