In a different crop, one that didn’t include a colt named Sovereignty, Journalism might have swept the Triple Crown. Second to Sovereignty as the Derby favorite, Journalism averted disaster, terrible traffic trouble, and won the Preakness. Sovereignty rolled past him in the Belmont, but Journalism held form, getting back to an excellent 105 Beyer Speed Figure, finishing 3 1/2 lengths clear of third.
Twenty-two days later, Journalism hit the work tab at Santa Anita. And 42 days after making his fifth start since March 1, and his third in five weeks, Journalism returns to the East Coast as the odds-on favorite for the $1 million Haskell on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Were Journalism, trained by Michael McCarthy, a typical 3-year-old, a schedule this demanding might’ve hollowed his core. But Journalism’s an Adonis, bursting with raw talent, brimming with class. It’s not just his connections who think he’s ready.
“I’ve been watching him. He’s still doing great,” said trainer Bob Baffert, who sends Goal Oriented to Monmouth, seeking his 10th Haskell. “If you have the right horse, you can do this.”
In 2015, Baffert won the first Triple Crown in 37 years with American Pharoah. Twenty-three days after the Belmont, American Pharoah breezed at Santa Anita. A few weeks later, he won the Haskell.
American Pharoah went off at 1-10. Journalism won’t be that short, but he easily could dip below his 4-5 morning line. The Haskell, a Grade 1 contested over 1 1/8 miles, part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, goes as race 12 on a 14-race program beginning at noon Eastern. The Haskell, the last of six stakes, broadcast on NBC, goes at 5:45.
Three among seven other entrants cannot, barring the impossible, win the Haskell. Long Branch winner Kentucky Outlaw rates somewhat higher than Wildncrazynight and National Law.
Bracket Buster broke out June 14 in the Pegasus at Monmouth, running off to a seven-length win over a sloppy track. A good showing, but Bracket Buster needs another major step forward to prove more than a rail-drawn pace factor under John Velazquez.
In April, Bracker Buster set the pace and held second in the Lexington, beaten two lengths by Gosger, one among a trio of plausible Haskell upsetters. Gosger, trained in Kentucky by Brendan Walsh, went from the Lexington to the Preakness, where he sat just off the pace set by Clever Again, taking command when Clever Again stopped in upper stretch, and looking like a winner as he passed the eighth pole with a five-length lead.
Nope. Journalism, stopped cold in upper stretch, regained stride and buzzed past Gosger to win by a half-length. Gosger, not a flashy work horse, has breezed steadily since, but if his path to victory requires the favorite almost falling down, it’s a narrow path, indeed.
It was Goal Oriented who brawled with Journalism in the Preakness, with jockey Flavien Prat grimly holding his ground as Umberto Rispoli and Journalism gathered momentum and tried to bowl through a sliver of daylight inside him. Goal Oriented’s hind end went flying after heavy contact, the trouble costing him a higher placing.
“It got a little crazy,” Baffert said. “He’s a big horse. You can’t stop and go with him.”
Goal Oriented has matured considerably, Baffert said, acknowledging the colt needs to hit another level to contend. His July 4 in-company workout, five furlongs in 58 seconds with a huge gallop-out, suggests that’s possible. Baffert likes post 8, though he’s not certain how Goal Oriented wants to run.
“We don’t know yet. Prat’s in charge,” he said.
Burnham Square’s trouble came in the Derby. The likely second choice Saturday, Burnham Square won the Holy Bull in February and went last to first edging East Avenue in the Blue Grass in April. Traveling sweetly along the fence in the Derby, Burnham Square got stopped and checked at the half-mile pole, never recovering. His trainer, Ian Wilkes, targeted this race even before a more subtly poor trip June 8 in the Matt Winn Stakes.
Wilkes said that if Burnham Square, a lanky gelding, continues improving, he’ll stick closer to the leaders than in the Blue Grass. Burnham Square has been working over the synthetic surface at the Skylight training center in Kentucky. His July 5 drill was even more impressive than the published five furlongs in 1:00.20.
“A tremendous work with a tremendous gallop-out, three-quarters in 1:12 and change. If they do that over that track, they can just about go anywhere and compete,” Wilkes said. “If you’re going to beat Journalism, maybe it’s this start.”
Maybe not. Journalism, has shown McCarthy everything he wants to see.
“The horse seemed like he was coming back to himself very quickly after the Belmont,” McCarthy said. “If we didn’t feel the horse was ready to fire, we would not have put him back on a plane. I would say all three breezes [since the Belmont] were good. His second work, in company, was certainly something.”
McCarthy still rues the first 100 yards of the Derby, where Journalism got shuffled deep into a morass of horseflesh. The colt overcame trouble in the Santa Anita Derby, as well as the Preakness. At Saratoga, he ran into a fresh horse on his home turf.
Another year, and Journalism might win the Triple Crown. Saturday, he should win the Haskell.
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