On Sunday at Aqueduct, the featured race is the $125,000 Stymie Stakes. Carded at a mile and an eighth on the main track, the stakes race has drawn a field of six colts and geldings.
Madefromlucky tops the field as the morning line favorite at odds of 8-5 for trainer Todd Pletcher. A four-year-old son of Lookin at Lucky, he has won four of his fourteen starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner. He is getting a break in class after a disappointing eighth-place finish in his first start of the year in the Donn Handicap (G1). Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be aboard and they will break from post position two.
Second choice at morning line odds of 5-2 is Dontbetwithbruno, one of two horses in the race for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. A four-year-old son of Tiz Wonderful, he has been on the board in seven of his twelve starts and is trying to earn his fifth victory. He will also be trying to notch his first stakes win and is stepping back up after two straight wins at Aqueduct. Junior Alvarado will be aboard from post position three.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 6-1 is Stormin Monarcho for trainer David Jacobson. A six-year-old son of Monarchos, the bay gelding is an eleven-time winner and a multiple stakes winner. He is trying to return to form and has been off the board in both starts this year, most recently with a fourth-place finish in an optional claiming race. Jose Ortiz will be aboard and they will break from the inside post.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
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