Lookin At Lucky Romps in the Haskell Invitational

OCEAN PORT,NJ – The Heavily favored Bob Baffert trained Lookin At Lucky (6-5) romped home to win  The 1 Million Dollar Grade I  Haskell Invitational by 4 lengths today at Monmouth Park.  He wound up beating the 2nd choice Trappe Shot who finished 2nd (5-2) and the pace setting 3rd choice First Dude (5-1) who finshed third.  Kentucky Derby Winner Super Saver(7-1) with Calvin Borel aboard was 3rd down the back stretch following the speed was met by Lookin At Lucky at the top of the stretch to what was looking like a stretch duel between the two. However that was short lived as rider Martin Garcia just let Lookin At Lucky have his way and found another gear that gave his mount  a burst of speed that separated him from the field by four lengths in mid stretch and held that lead to win. Jockey Martin Garcia allowed the pace setters to have their way into the first turn and even followed a path what looked like 3 wide on purpose and knew exactly what he was doing when he seemingly relaxed his Colt down the back stretch and then glided his winner from 4th around horses on the far turn to give him an open run that Garcia knows how to do beautifully. Trainer Bob Baffert  expressed how unbelievable the colt has been training, and that “he’s finally come out of his shell, he’s grown up now, and stamped himself to what a great horse he is.” Baffert also expressed that the colt is so much better than he was earlier, so much that he wished the Kentucky Derby was in a month. He seems to strictly be a dirt running horse (as opposed to California synthetic racing surfaces),  which may lead him toward the Travers Stakes late August at Saratoga. That idea most likely keep him away from the Pacific Classic at Del Mar later this month. However at this moment there is no dispute as to who the best 3 year old Colt in the Nation is.  Looking At Lucky’s racing skill supersedes his name as being anything  but lucky.       -J. Connelly