2025 Haskell Stakes Preview at Monmouth Park

Key Takeaways:

• Preakness winner Journalism returns as the heavy favorite, armed with Triple Crown-season consistency, pace versatility, and a trainer who rarely misses when placing his horses right.
• Gosger and Burnham Square both offer upside and value, with Gosger cutting back slightly in distance after a near-miss in the Preakness, and Burnham Square poised to pounce off a likely sharp early pace.
• Goal Oriented and Kentucky Outlaw bring speed and potential to Monmouth Park, but their chances hinge on trip dynamics and track bias, especially in a field with multiple frontrunners looking to test each other early.

The first major summer destination for three-year-olds going long on the dirt is here: the $1 million Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park! The 1 ⅛-mile dirt race features a mix of familiar faces from the Triple Crown as well as new faces trying to step up in the second half of the season. And, in addition to the million-dollar purse, there is a berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at stake—the only chance to earn a bid against straight three-year-olds.

This race began as the Monmouth Invitational Handicap in 1968 and was renamed the Haskell Invitational Handicap in 1981. In 2006, it became the Haskell Invitational Stakes, and has been run under regular stakes (and not invitational) conditions since 2020. The winners’ list from the Haskell reads like a who’s who of some of the best dirt three-year-olds across recent decades of horse racing history. Superstars like Forty Niner, Holy Bull, Point Given, Big Brown, Rachel Alexandra, and American Pharoah have all won Monmouth Park’s showcase race.

The 2025 Haskell drew a field of eight horses. The star of the show is Preakness Stakes winner Journalism, who makes his first start since finishing second in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on June 7. He faces three others from the Triple Crown series: Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Burnham Square, Preakness runner-up Gosger, and Preakness fourth-place finisher Goal Oriented.

2025 Haskell Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 19
• Track: Monmouth Park
• Post Time: 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: 3-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, NBC, Peacock
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2025 Haskell Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the 2025 Haskell Stakes, including trainers, jockeys, post positions, and morning-line odds for each horse.

Haskell Stakes Prep Race Results

The eight horses in the field raced in five different events last out, all of which are stakes races. Three of the runners come out of Grade 1 company. Journalism was last seen running second behind Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. Two others race for the first time since the Preakness Stakes: Gosger was a narrow second behind Journalism, while Goal Oriented flattened to fourth.

One other comes out of graded-stakes company. Burnham Square finished a close second in the Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs on June 8, just failing to reel in the classy pacesetter East Avenue.

Three horses come out of the Pegasus Stakes on June 14, the Monmouth Park prep race for the Haskell. Bracket Buster, the only last-out winner in the field, battled on the pace and galloped clear to win by seven lengths. Wildncrazynight, the other horse in the pace battle, chased home in second. National Law, always toward the rear of that small field, checked in fourth.

Kentucky Outlaw is the lone horse coming out of the Delaware Derby on June 14. He set a pressured early pace, but flattened out to finish third, 6 ¼ lengths behind Admiral Dennis.

Haskell Stakes Contenders

These are the eight contenders in the 2025 Haskell Stakes:

1. Bracket Buster: Bracket Buster does his best work on or near the front end, so he should be gunning it from the fence and trying to take the field around. The trip may be thorny, drawn inside—and he’ll have more speed to battle with this time than before, with not only Wildncrazynight but also Kentucky Outlaw, and possibly even Gosger or Goal Oriented to battle with on the lead. Though it’s a positive that Bracket Buster already has some rapport with jockey John Velazquez, the pace and post concerns make it a tough assignment.
2. Journalism: Never off the board in his eight-race career, Journalism has consistency and class on his side. He was the only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this year, finishing in the exacta each time. Few trainers are as shrewd at spotting their horses as McCarthy, and there is every reason to believe that he wouldn’t run Journalism if he weren’t ready to go. With pace, versatility, and the ability to run his race anywhere, Journalism is the horse to beat in the Haskell.
3. Wildncrazynight: He battled on the pace in the Pegasus last out in his two-turn debut, but was no match for Bracket Buster, finishing second by seven lengths. He does his best work on or near the pace, but that’ll be a tough test with not only Bracket Buster, but several horses to his outside showing a lot of speed as well. He would need a career-best effort, and this is a tough place for it, especially since he has yet to prove that he wants two turns.
4. Burnham Square: After a troubled sixth in the Kentucky Derby, Burnham Square came back with a good effort in the Matt Winn. That day, he had to reel in pacesetter East Avenue in a four-horse field. This time, he gets a far different, and far more favorable, pace scenario. Though he doesn’t have to drop back to the clouds, a dimension of versatility that always helps, he does well when he gets a sharp pace to close into, and he’ll get that setup this time. Especially since Brian Hernandez sticks with Burnham Square instead of shipping out to Saratoga to ride Take Charge Milady in the Coaching Club American Oaks, there’s reason to be confident here.
5. National Law: He figured it out when he switched to going two turns on the dirt, breaking his maiden in December and winning a May allowance at Pimlico in his next start. It was enough to earn him a stakes try in the Pegasus on June 14 at Monmouth. That start didn’t go as well as his tries against non-stakes company, as he never looked threatening. He has shown some pace versatility and can pass horses if need be, but he has yet to run a race anywhere near fast enough to be a threat in this spot, and may still get just a little overbet with Irad Ortiz, Jr. taking the ride.
6. Gosger: The Lexington winner took a dazzling step up in the Preakness, looking home free midstretch and just missing after a herculean effort by Journalism to catch him. But, it showed he belonged at the top level. The race gave him some seasoning as well. The slight cutback in distance could help him along, and he is tactical enough to let the confirmed frontrunners go, and then get first run on them. With his Preakness rider, Luis Saez, returning to the irons, Gosger has a lot of upside still.
7. Kentucky Outlaw: In his graded-stakes debut, he shapes as another one of the speed horses. He has shown some tactical ability, as he won the Long Branch over the local course in stalk-and-pounce fashion. He’ll need to tap into that stalking gear to have a shot; he got caught up in a fast pace in the Delaware Derby last out and just did not see out the trip. But, if he can do that and take a reasonable step forward under jockey Florent Geroux, he is the most appealing of the horses who did not run in the Triple Crown races.
8. Goal Oriented: Bob Baffert stepped Goal Oriented up to the Preakness Stakes in just his third career start, after victories in a maiden race and a Kentucky Derby undercard allowance at Saratoga. He stalked the pace, got snarled in upper stretch, and flattened out in the lane, crossing the finish fourth behind Journalism. He still has upside in just his fourth career start, and both the better post and the slight turnback in distance are positives. So is Baffert’s strong record in the Haskell Stakes. But on the other hand, he will be close to a sharp pace, so he’ll be best suited if the track is playing for speed on race day.

2025 Haskell Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Haskell Stakes?

A: The Haskell Stakes happens Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 5:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It is carded as the 12th on Monmouth’s flagship 14-race Haskell day card on Saturday. Post time for the first race is at noon EDT.

Q: Where is the Haskell Stakes?

A: The Haskell Stakes happens at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Haskell Stakes?

A: Bob Baffert has established himself as king of Haskell horse racing, with nine victories in the race, most recently in 2020 with Authentic, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic as well. Baffert returns to the fray in 2025 with Goal Oriented.

Q: Who is the favorite for the 2025 Haskell Stakes?

A: Journalism, the Preakness Stakes winner and the runner-up behind Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty in both of those races, is the 4-5 morning-line favorite for the Haskell. Given his class and consistency, he should hold as a heavy favorite at post time.

Q: Who is the best Haskell Stakes jockey?

A: Mike Smith has won a record four editions of the Haskell, most recently with Geaux Rocket Ride in 2023. Smith does not ride the race in 2025. Among the jockeys who do have horses in the race, three have won the race twice before and might impress again: Florent Geroux (Kentucky Outlaw), Luis Saez (Gosger), and John Velazquez (Bracket Buster).

Q: Who won the Haskell Stakes in 2024?

A: Dornoch followed up his Belmont Stakes victory with a win in the 2024 Haskell Stakes. He was trained by Danny Gargan and ridden by Luis Saez. Gargan does not have a horse in the 2025 Haskell, but Saez takes the call on Gosger for Brendan Walsh.

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