Verrazano led the 3-year-old ranks this spring, and after his thorough demolishing of a good field in the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational (gr. I) July 28 at Monmouth Park, it looks like he's right back on top.
With John Velazquez aboard, even-money choice Verrazano challenged Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Oxbow near the three-eighths pole and took command into the stretch, drawing off to a record-setting 9 3/4-length victory in a time of 1:50 3/5 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track.
Todd Pletcher trains Verrazano, a son of More than Ready , for Let's Go Stable and Coolmore partners Michael Tabor, Susan Magnier, and Derrick Smith. It was the third Haskell win for the multiple Eclipse-Award winning conditioner, and his first since he won Monmouth's signature race back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 with Bluegrass Cat and Any Given Saturday .
Power Broker, who tried in vain to stay with the winner coming off the far turn, was a distant second, with the Pletcher-trained Micromanage third. Pacesetter Oxbow settled for fourth and was walked off the track when Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens dismounted because he did not like the way the colt was jogging after the race.
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