Big Brown tops list of 33 invited to Haskell Invitational BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent Atotal of 33 horses have been invited to the 41st running of Monmouth Park's $1 million Haskell Invitational (G1), with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown expected to head the field in the mile-and-an-eighth event on Aug. 3. "This is shaping up to be one of the greatest runnings of the Haskell in the long history of Monmouth Park," said Dennis Dowd, senior executive vice president of racing for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. "The presence of Big Brown in the field guarantees a race to remember." The connections of Big Brown - owners IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr. - announced their intention to run in the Haskell soon after the son of Boundary lost his Triple Crown bid in the Belmont Stakes on June 7. The colt has been working steadily at Aqueduct, where trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. is stabled, to get ready for the Haskell. In his latest breeze at the Big A last Monday, Big Brown went five furlongs in 1:01 1/5, best of the morning. In addition to Big Brown, others considering a start in the Haskell include Atoned, Cool Coal Man, Nistle's Crunch, Tale of Ekati and Truth Rules. Truth Rules, trained by Nick Zito, and Atoned, trained by Todd Pletcher, finished one-two just a head apart in the Long Branch Stakes here, Monmouth's primary Haskell prep. It was the third-straight win at Monmouth for Truth Rules. Zito may have a pair of Robert LaPenta-owned colts in the race as he seeks his first Haskell win. He also trains Cool Coal Man, who won the Spend a Buck Stakes here as he rebounded from a 15th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Pletcher would be looking for an unprecedented third-straight win in the Haskell with Dogwood Stable's Atoned. He saddled Bluegrass Cat to win in 2006 and Any Given Saturday last year. Charles Fipke's Tale of Ekati, who won the Wood Memorial before running fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Belmont Stakes, is trained by Barclay Tagg. The colt was fourth in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile over a very sloppy Monmouth track. Ken McPeek could send out Nistle's Crunch, a New Jersey-bred who has been racing on turf his last three starts, most recently running second in the Colonial Turf Cup (G3). He has won at a mile and an eighth on the main track, however, and trains on the dirt at Churchill Downs. The complete list of Haskell Invitational invitees includes: Anak Nakal, Atoned, Behindatthebar, Big Brown, Big Truck, Cherokee Artist, Chris Got Even, Colonel John, Cool Coal Man, Da' Tara, Dixie Chatter, Famous Patriot, Harlem Rocker, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Macho Again, Magical Forest, Mambo Meister, Maya's Storm, Mint Lane, My Pal Charlie, Nistle's Crunch, PyroReady Set, Ready's Echo, Recapturetheglory, Roman Emperor, Tale of Ekati, Tiz Now Tiz Then, Tres Borrachos, Truth Rules, Two Step Salsa, Z Fortune. As a tribute to the men and women in uniform, Monmouth Park will offer free admission and the traditional Haskell hat to everyone with a military ID card on Haskell Day. Monmouth Park is in the midst of several of the state's military bases, with Fort Monmouth and Naval Weapons Station Earle located in Monmouth County, Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst in Ocean County, and Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County. Other military facilities in the state include Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground; Picatinny Arsenal; and the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. Anyone with military ID is entitled to free admission any day Monmouth is racing during the year. On Haskell Day, the military ID will also be good for a free Haskell hat. Sly Storm rolls to victory in the Mongo Queen Stakes Glen Hill Farm's Sly Storm kicked clear of her foes to post a 3 ½-length win in the $70,000 Mongo Queen Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday. Trained by Thomas Proctor, Sly Storm covered the six furlongs over a fast main track in 1:09 1/5 and returned $4.40, $2.80 and $2.20 as the favorite in the field of six 3-year-old fillies. Shining Image completed the $22.60 exacta and returned $3.80 to place and $2.40 to show. It was another 4 ¼ lengths back to Throbbin' Heart, who returned $2.20 to show. "It was an easy ride for me," said winning jockey Jose Lezcano. "She broke well and was able to relax a little bit down the backside. Turning for home, I called on her and she gave me everything she had." Sunday's stakes score was the third win in four starts for Sly Storm, a daughter of Storm Cat from the Broad Brush mare Brushed Halory. She has now earned $108,906 for her connections. On Saturday, Walts David Stable's Beau Dare took command out of the gate and was never headed as she equaled the course record in winning the $60,000 Klassy Briefcase Stakes. Beau Dare, trained by Monmouth's leading conditioner Bruce Levine and ridden by Stewart Elliott, stopped the timer in 1:01.85 for five and a half furlongs on the firm turf course, exactly matching the mark set by In Summation last year and Chitoz last month. The 5-year-old mare by Military scored by a half-length and paid $6.20, $3.60 and $2.80 across the board as the favorite in the field of eight fillies and mares. Sophie's Salad, who tried her best to get by the winner, settled for the place, paying $4.20 to place and $3.20 to show and completing the $27.20 exacta. Don't Stop Dreamin was a half-length farther back in third and paid $3.40 to show. There was very little drama in the running of the Klassy Briefcase. Elliott got Beau Dare away alertly from her outside post, and the mare made all the running, getting a quarter in :22 1/5 and a half in :45. Through the stretch she maintained her advantage over Sophie's Salad for the final furlong. "Knowing she had speed, I figured we'd be close up early on," said Elliott. "She broke so good that I put her right on the front end. She went to the front and started rolling. That horse [Sophie's Salad] came up and challenged us in the stretch, but I felt I had enough horse left, and I did." American Border closed strongly through the stretch to capture Friday's $40,000 allowance feature on the Monmouth Park turf course by nearly three lengths and give jockey Elvis Trujillo his third winner of the day. American Border, owned by Mr. Amore Stable and trained by Jason Servis, raced the mile and an eighth over the firm grass in 1:46 4/5, and paid $10.80, $4.60 and $3.60 across the board as third choice in the field of nine fillies and mares. Give No Ground was second, completing the $58.80 exacta and paying $5.20 and $3.80 to place and show. Succeed finished third, a length and a quarter farther back, and returned $4 to show. It was the first Monmouth win for American Border, a 4-year-old filly by Boundary who won in Florida earlier this year. Trujillo, who started riding at Monmouth just recently, also won the first race aboard Daring Cat and the sixth aboard Carson Hall. $150 Handicapping contest set for Saturday The third in a series of handicapping contests at Monmouth will be held on Saturday, July 26, with a $150 buy-in to play. Once again, the top prize will be cash, plus a spot in the 2009 DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. Players can enter for $150, with $50 of that representing the entry fee and $100 the betting bankroll for the contest. The top 10 finishers will receive cash prizes. Lezcano top jockey; Levine leads trainers Through this past weekend's action, Jose Lezcano remained Monmouth Park's top performing jockey, with 70 wins, 54 second-place finishes and 43 thirds in 272 starts (good for $2,384,181). Eddie Castro is not far behind in second (64 wins, 44 seconds, 53 thirds in 316 starts for $2,294,485), followed by local favorite Joe Bravo (56 wins, 56 seconds, 44 thirds in 257 starts for $2,262,010) and Stewart Elliot (37 wins, 37 seconds and 32 thirds in 232 starts for $1,425,973). Levine remains atop the trainer standings, with 36 wins, 11 seconds and nine thirds in 81 starts for $754,640, followed by Edwin T. Broome (19 wins, 15 seconds and 13 thirds in 72 starts for $490,210), Timothy A. Hills (12 wins, 12 seconds and eight thirds for $466,685) and Jason Servis (12 wins, nine seconds and six thirds for $373,080).