Haskell Invitational 2016: Date, Post Positions, Odds, Prize Money and More

It's not the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or Belmont Stakes, but the $1 million Haskell Invitational will feature some of the best racehorses in the country.

As a result, horse racing fans may be about to witness a classic Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey.

The Haskell has long been one of the top races on the horse racing calendar, and the 2015 edition featured Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who put on a memorable winning performance.

While there is no Triple Crown winner in this year's race, the six-horse field is competitive. It features Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and Preakness winner Exaggerator, as well as Gun Runner, another graded-stakes winner.

If they sound familiar, that's because those three horses were the first to cross the finish line at the Kentucky Derby respectively. Rematches of this stature in a non-Triple Crown race are rare, and it should result in stellar competition.

Nyquist, who will break from the No. 1 post, is favored with 6-5 odds, according to Monmouth Park's official website.

Post	Horse	Odds	Skinny
1	Nyquist	6-5	Ready to roll once again.
2	Sunny Ridge	20-1	Talented but a long shot to compete with this field.
3	Awesome Slew	15-1	Improving in each race.
4	Gun Runner	4-1	Very consistent and has a chance to win.
5	American Freedom	3-1	Has won three of four and can't be overlooked.
6	Exaggerator	5-2	Praying for rain.

The Doug O'Neill-trained horse has won eight of his nine career races, and his only loss came to Exaggerator in the Preakness. Nyquist did not run in the Belmont Stakes.

O'Neill blames himself for Nyquist's defeat in the Preakness. He felt getting the lead early was the key to a second consecutive Triple Crown victory, and he instructed jockey Mario Gutierrez to get to the front as soon as he could, per the Lexington Herald-Leader's Alicia Wincze Hughes.

He told Wincze Hughes what went wrong in the race: "That was a big-time error on my part. I was just so confident going into it, and I just didn't want any traffic troubles. I went Donald Trump on them and said, 'You win the first turn, we'll win the race,' and that really handcuffed [Gutierrez]."

The trainer's philosophy seemed to make sense since Nyquist has so much speed and the Preakness is a shorter race than the Derby. However, when speedster Uncle Lino pressed Nyquist throughout the first part of the race, it cost him dearly.

The Kentucky Derby's official Twitter account shared an image of Nyquist, who will be hoping for a better result on his return to the track:

Exaggerator, who will start out of the No. 6 hole, is the second favorite at 5-2. If race day turns into a rainy one, that will help Exaggerator, who has been a strong mudder.

American Freedom, who is trained by Bob Baffert and will start out of the No. 5 post position, has 3-1 odds. Gun Runner, who has won five times in seven career starts, comes into the race with 4-1 odds. He will start from the No. 4 post.

It's tough to predict a winner in the loaded field, but horse racing fans can expect to see a classic race Sunday at Monmouth Park.