Haskell Invitational 2015 Results: Winner, Purse Payouts and Order of Finish
The Haskell Invitational is always one of the most exciting races on the North American circuit, and this year's race was no exception. The race carries a huge purse—this year, it's $1.75 million—and is a stepping stone to one of the biggest races in the entire world, the Breeders' Cup Classic.
The race has seen its fair share of big-time names roll through the finish line but perhaps none bigger than this year's winner, American Pharoah.
The first horse to win horse racing's coveted Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, Pharoah continued his winning ways with a romp over six would-be competitors, including two familiar foes, Keen Ice and Upstart.
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There were, as New York Times sports columnist Juliet Macur put it, "a few" people there taking in Pharoah's run, and the Ahmed Zayat-owned and Bob Baffert-trained colt didn't disappoint. In fact, it's quite possible that the Pioneerof the Nile colt couldn't have been more impressive in his victory if he tried.
Perhaps more impressive than Pharoah's run, though, is the fact that his trainer, Baffert, has won this race a whopping eight times, dating back to 2001, and five times in the last six years—he won last in 2014 with Bayern.
The horse racing scene will quiet down for a little bit as we ponder over where Pharoah's next race will come—the Travers Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby are the two best landing spots at the moment—but now is the time to, as Zayat put it, "savor the moment" and look back at one of racing's all-time-great colts and what he was able to accomplish in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.
Final Order of Finish
| 1 | American Pharoah | Bob Baffert | Victor Espinoza | 1-9 | $1.1 million |
| 2 | Keen Ice | Dale Romans | Kent Desormeaux | 18-1 | $330,000 |
| 3 | Upstart | Richard Violette Jr. | Joe Bravo | 6-1 | $150,000 |
| 4 | Competitive Edge | Todd Pletcher | Mike Smith | 9-1 | $90,000 |
| 5 | Top Clearance | Wayne Catalano | Abel Castellano Jr. | 55-1 | $50,000 |
| 6 | Dontbetwithbruno | Todd Pletcher | Gabriel Saez | 65-1 | $15,000 |
| 7 | Mr. Jordan | Edward Plesa Jr. | Paco Lopez | 26-1 | $15,000 |
| SCR | Nonna's Boy | Todd Pletcher | -- | -- | -- |
Payouts
| American Pharoah | $2.20 | $2.10 | $2.10 |
| Keen Ice | -- | $4.80 | $2.80 |
| Upstart | -- | -- | $2.40 |
Race Replay
Recap
Unsurprisingly Competitive Edge broke straight to the front, looking to set an early pace. Pharoah, our eventual winner, settled in right behind him no more than a length off the pace at any given time.
Pharoah stalked the leader through a quarter in 23.01 seconds and a half-mile in 46.00 seconds flat. From there, the Triple Crown winner looked poised to add another victory to his ledger, working through three-quarters of a mile in 1:09.03.
As the group made its way to the quarter pole, it was clear that Pharoah was the best as he easily overtook a full-out Competitive Edge. Pharoah continued under a hand ride and geared down through much of the stretch run before barreling down over the finishing line with a 1 ½-length victory over a hard-charging Keen Ice in a final time of 1:47.4.
Keen Ice ran solidly and was able to overtake a faltering Competitive Edge while also catching and extending his lead over Upstart who, despite his third-place finish, threw up a bit of a clunker in this race.
Upstart came into the race as the 6-1 second choice. He didn't break exactly the way he wanted to, and surely rider Joe Bravo would've liked to see him a little more forwardly placed. But despite saving ground through much of his run, the Flatter colt came up flat in the stretch run.
All told, this was a great race for Monmouth Park as the legend of American Pharoah continued to unfold over one of the most underrated tracks in the country.
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