Chad Brown will saddle a loaded entry of Stephanie’s Kitten and Kitten’s Queen at odds of 3-5 on the morning line. Both mares are owned and bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and by their stallion Kitten’s Joy. Stephanie’s Kitten, winner of nine of her twenty starts, will have John Velazquez aboard as she goes for her second win of the year. Kitten’s Queen has won five of her nineteen starts and will be going for the first graded stakes win of her career under jockey Eric Cancel.
Riposte (GB), winner of the 2014 New York Stakes (G2), has been tabbed as the second choice at 6-1 on the morning line for trainer Bill Mott. Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, the five-year-old daughter of Dansili (GB) will be competing with blinkers for the first time after failing to hit the board in her last two starts against graded stakes competition. Joel Rosario will be back in the irons and they will break from post position seven.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 8-1 is Beauty Parlor for trainer Christophe Clement. A four-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality, she has been on the board in seven of her nine starts and made her stateside debut a winning one two starts back in the Orchid (G3) after competing in France. She was fifth in the Sheepshead Bay (G2) last time out as the favorite and will have Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard from post position six.
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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