Haskell, United Nations highlight Monmouth stakes schedule

Monmouth Park will offer $3.85 million in graded stakes during its 2008

season, with the $1 million Haskell Invitational S. (G1) and the $750,000 United

Nations S. (G1) once again highlighting the schedule at the Oceanport, New

Jersey, oval.

Slated for August 3, the Haskell often serves as a reunion for three-year-old

veterans of the Triple Crown wars. The nine-furlong test is valuable in itself,

and as a prep for the August 23 Travers S. (G1) at Saratoga. Supporting events

on the Haskell undercard are the $150,000 Oceanport S. (G3) for three-year-olds

and up at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and the $150,000 Matchmaker S. (G3) for

distaffers at 1 1/8 grassy miles.

The United Nations, a 1 3/8-mile affair for turf horses, anchors the July 5

program. In a significant change to the stakes schedule, the Salvator Mile S.

(G3) has been pushed back a couple of weeks to United Nations Day. Moreover, the

purse for the main-track mile has been doubled to $300,000. Both races will kick

off this year's Breeders' Cup Challenge series. Under the "Win and You're In"

format, the United Nations victor will earn a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf

(G1), and the Salvator Mile hero will be guaranteed a spot in the Breeders' Cup

Dirt Mile.

Crowning the July 4 festivities will be the $150,000 Jersey Shore S. (G3),

with three-year-old sprinters set to dash six furlongs on Independence Day.

Labor Day weekend will feature a pair of graded stakes. The $150,000 Red Bank

S. (G3) for three-year-olds and up at a grassy mile will be held on August 30,

followed the next day by the $150,000 Sapling S. (G3) for juveniles traveling

six furlongs.

Other major contests on tap include the $150,000 Eatontown S. (G3) for

distaffers at 1 1/16 miles on the turf on June 14; the $150,000 Boiling Springs

S. (G3) for sophomore fillies at that same course and distance on June 28; the

$150,000 Long Branch S. for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, the local

prep for the Haskell, on July 12; the $150,000 Monmouth Oaks (G3) for

three-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on August 9; the $300,000 Philip H.

Iselin S. (G3) for three-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on August 16; and the

$300,000 Molly Pitcher S. (G2) for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on August

24.

"We are proud to offer such a lucrative stakes schedule," said Dennis Dowd,

senior vice president of racing for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition

Authority, which owns and operates Monmouth. "Monmouth's stakes races have

always attracted the top horses in all divisions, and we look forward to

presenting racing fans in New Jersey with talent-filled, competitive fields this

summer."

Monmouth's meet runs from May 9 through September 28.