Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Hence, Girvin target Haskell
The lineup for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational picked up both Hence and Girvin in recent days, according to Monmouth Park officials.
The prospective field for the 1 1/8-mile Haskell now stands at nine despite dropping Always Dreaming from the list of probables. The Kentucky Derby winner is expected to compete in the July 29 Jim Dandy at Saratoga the day before the Haskell.
Other recent additions to the Haskell, which is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, are Practical Joke, the impressive winner of the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park last Saturday, and Impressive Edge, who was third in the July 7 Iowa Derby.
They join a solid core that includes Belmont Stakes runner-up Irish War Cry; Classic Empire, who just missed in the Preakness; Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Battle of Midway; three-time graded stakes winner McCraken; and the undefeated Timeline.
Practical Joke and Timeline are both trained by Chad Brown.
Hence and Girvin are stabled at Saratoga. Hence, who won the Sunland Derby in March, is coming off a freakish last-tofirst victory in the Iowa Derby for trainer Steve Asmussen. After dropping about a dozen lengths off the early pace in the 1 1/16-mile race under Mike Smith, he commenced a halfmile rally that carried him past the leaders by 1 1/2 lengths in the final sixteenth of a mile.
Girvin, trained by Joe Sharp, arrived at Saratoga on Thursday. Following a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, he regained his best form in the $500,000 Ohio Derby, opening a clear lead in upper stretch before dropping a nose decision to Irap.
Prior to the Kentucky Derby, Girvin won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds.
El Areeb to Fair Hill for rehab
El Areeb, who won four consecutive races from November to February for trainer Cal Lynch, including the Grade 3 Withers and Grade 3 Jerome, will begin a new phase in his rehabilitation from a knee injury this week at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
El Areeb was hurt during a March 30 workout at Laurel Park and later had surgery at the New Bolton Center to remove a chip and some debris from his knee, according to Lynch. He has been recuperating on a Maryland farm but will now be sent to Bruce Jackson, who will begin rebuilding El Areeb’s fitness on an Aqua-tred.
El Areeb is scheduled to be at Fair Hill for approximately 60 days and rejoin Lynch’s barn in mid-September.
Page McKenney to Mountaineer
Page McKenney is being pointed to the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s, a 1 1/16mile stakes at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 5, according to trainer Mary Eppler.
Page McKenney finished second to Matt King Coal in the $200,000 Mountainview at Penn National on June 3, then was sent to Nor Mar Farm in northern Maryland for two weeks of treatment in a saltwater spa and on the facility’s Aqua-tred. He had his first workout since the Mountainview last weekend.
“His heels have not been perfect since the winter,” Eppler said. “His feet were sore. Now they are perfect. Because of the Aqua-tred, I don’t think he lost any conditioning while he was there.”
◗ The Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show at Pimlico Race Course on June 25 raised nearly $7,000 for Beyond the Wire, the Thoroughbred aftercare program of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association that was founded last year.
The Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show has raised nearly $70,000 for Thoroughbred aftercare since 2012.