3 Best Bets to Win the 2024 Haskell Stakes

The highlight of the Monmouth Park racing season, and one of the most important moments in the three-year-old dirt racing season, happens Saturday, July 20, with the $1 million Haskell Stakes. The race covers 1 ⅛ miles on the dirt. Not only does it offer a million-dollar purse, but the winner of the race also earns an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. The Haskell Stakes is the only race limited to three-year-olds that offers a spot in that important race for older dirt horses.

The eight-horse Haskell field is full of top dirt sophomores. The top two finishers in the Belmont Stakes, Dornoch and Mindframe, are entered to face each other once again. Fierceness, the leading juvenile of 2023 and this year’s Florida Derby (G1) winner, attempts to bounce back from his off-the-board finish in the Kentucky Derby. Timberlake will try to recapture his Grade 1-winning form as well, and several others will attempt to make an impact at the top level.

The Haskell Stakes (formerly known as the Haskell Invitational Stakes) reads as a who’s who of top three-year-olds over the last several decades. With winners including Majestic Light, Holy Bull, Big Brown, Rachel Alexandra, and American Pharoah, the Haskell is a ticket to a place in horse racing history. It can also be a ticket to a great score at the betting windows, so keep reading to find out which horses to make sure to put in your Haskell wagers.

Sign up or log in to FanDuel Racing today to place your bets.

1. Timberlake (Haskell Stakes odds: 8-1 ML)

Timberlake was one of the better juveniles last year. The Brad Cox trainee romped at second asking in a maiden race at Ellis, finished second in the Hopeful after attending a quick pace, splashed home an emphatic victor in a sloppy Champagne, and ran a perfectly credible fourth behind Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year. It looked like he was picking up right where he left off when he won the Rebel. However, he ran into a roadblock in the Arkansas Derby (G1) when Muth, the shipper for trainer Bob Baffert, ran him down and left Timberlake to weaken to fourth.

Cox has freshened Timberlake since that outing. That could be a really good sign: Timberlake won the Rebel off of a similarly long freshening, about three and a half months. Timberlake has the tactical speed to get the right trip: at Monmouth Park it is good to be forward though there is enough pace in this race to get a need-to-lead type in trouble. Timberlake reliably stalks the pace.

Timberlake also has the pedigree to merit one more chance at this 1 ⅛-mile distance. Sire Into Mischief has emerged as the epitome of a stallion who can throw any kind, and that includes real routers if there is enough stamina in the dam line. That is the case here: he is out of a Lookin at Lucky mare who won going as long at 1 ¾ miles, and his dam is half to a mare named Yesterday who was an Irish classic winner at a mile and had two narrow misses in Group 1 company at 1 ½ miles.

Against foes like these, Yesterday will have to bounce back to his best to win the Haskell. But, he has no shortage of upside, and with so many other horses likely to take betting interest, he is the one most likely to be a Haskell day overlay.

2. Mindframe (Haskell Stakes odds: 9-5 ML)

Mindframe was regarded so well by trainer Todd Pletcher that his graded-stakes debut came in the Belmont Stakes. That ended up being an extremely wise choice: he was in range the entire way and only missed by ½ length to the far more experienced Dornoch. This time around, Mindframe has that experience. He also cuts back half a furlong from the 1 ¼-mile distance of the Belmont Stakes this year. And, relative to rail-drawn Dornoch, Mindframe drew a better post for the Haskell.

This all adds up to Mindframe being a leading contender in the Haskell. The price will not be long: he is the morning-line favorite in the race and will likely be either the favorite or close to it come post time. However, he has never run a bad race in his brief, three-race career. He did pass that class test in the Belmont. From a pace perspective, he has the tactical speed to work out a trip, and he may be able to work out a nice outside tracking trip from this near-outside gate.

3. Tuscan Sky (Haskell Stakes odds: 9-2 ML)

A stablemate of Mindframe and Fierceness in the Todd Pletcher barn, Tuscan Sky also has some upside as another up-and-comer in the Haskell Stakes. After two smart off-track victories to begin his career, Tuscan Sky disappointed with a seventh-place finish in the Wood (G2). However, the combination of his inexperience and a troubled trip makes that an easy race to look past if Tuscan Sky returned well.

Tuscan Sky returned June 15, about a month and a half after the Wood, and he did the needful. Coming back in the ungraded Pegasus, a local prep for the Haskell, he attended the early pace, cleared off, and won by 6 ¾ lengths. The horse who finished a clear second, Domestic Product, already came back to dominate the Dwyer (G3) at Aqueduct on July 6. Though Domestic Product was not facing the toughest field that day, he beat them easily enough to say the race franked Tuscan Sky’s form.

He has some questions to answer. He hasn’t faced this class of opposition yet, and he hasn’t answered the 1 ⅛-mile question yet. However, he won the Pegasus in fast enough fashion to suggest that he has something competitive to run back to. And, being by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso from a versatile enough family, time and maturity could turn him into a horse who wants this kind of trip.

New to FanDuel Racing? Place your first bet on any race at any track and get it back in Racing Bonus if it doesn’t win! Valid in participating states. See here for full terms and conditions. Learn about today’s other offers at FanDuel Sportsbook Promos.

Looking for horse racing betting opportunities? Head over to FanDuel Racing to see all of today’s horse racing odds.