Saturday’s NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park drew a solid seven-horse field vying for the winner’s share from a $1 million purse and an automatic berth to the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Oct. 31 at Keeneland. The Haskell will be televised nationwide on NBC and streamed on Peacock with a post time of 5:45 p.m. ET.

Read on for Haskell Stakes trifecta betting strategies from the team at America’s Best Racing, and use ABR’s handy Gambling Calculator to structure your bets.

Mike Curry:

Further Ado wins Matt Winn Stakes (Eclipse Sportswire)

I view #2 Further Ado (2-1) as a standout in this field and I expect him to surge away to a commanding lead in early stretch, putting some distance between himself and the other speedy entrants. He’s my key horse on top. I’ve liked #4 The Puma (7-2) all season and was disappointed he missed the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve with an injury. He should be fresh for this race, the question is: will he be fit off a 3 ½-month layoff? The Puma has worked consistently since early June, so I’m optimistic. I don’t think #7 Ocelli (6-1) is fast enough to win, but he’s proved time and again he can rally for a top-three finish. I’ll also include NYRA Bets Pegasus Stakes winner #3 Baby Vino (15-1) in my trifecta.

My trifecta will be built around Further Ado on top and playing against the Preakness top two of #6 Napoleon Solo (5-2) and #5 Iron Honor (3-1).

Mike Curry’s Haskell Stakes trifecta:

$5 trifecta: 2 with 3,4,7 with 3,4,7 ($30)

Noel Michaels:

Preakness winner Napoleon Solo (Coglianese photos/Ryan Thompson)

#2 Further Ado and #6 Napoleon Solo will vie for favoritism in Monmouth Park’s Haskell Stakes, and both are standouts. Further Ado finished a disappointing 11th in the Kentucky Derby but otherwise has not run a bad race or finished out of the exacta in four other graded stakes races since his 20-length maiden win at Keeneland last fall. He has tactical speed to stay close to the pace versus this field – a key factor at Monmouth – and trainer Brad Cox and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. give him top human connections in his corner. Further Ado’s win last time in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes was flattered when runner-up Our Moneyman came back to finish in a win photo in last weekend’s Grade 3 Indiana Derby. Meanwhile, the same plusses that exist for Further Ado can also be applied to Napoleon Solo. He exits a win in the Preakness Stakes, where he defeated Haskell rival #5 Iron Honor. Napoleon Solo owns handy tactical speed, and he and Iron Honor both were flattered when Preakness third-place finisher Chip Honcho came back to win the Grade 3 Ohio Derby. Napoleon Solo will be ridden by perennial Monmouth Park leading jockey Paco Lopez. 

When handicapping Haskell trifecta strategies, it’s probably not worth spreading your bets too thin in a seven-horse field, especially if you’re using the favorites. The two other interesting contenders are #3 Baby Vino and #4 The Puma. Baby Vino won the local prep by 10 ¾ lengths in the Pegasus Stakes and is a potential up-and-comer at value odds. The Puma beat Further Ado in the Grade 3 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby in March and now returns after 3 ½ months on the sidelines. Let’s center our trifectas around Further Ado and Napoleon Solo and put a little of both Baby Vino and The Puma into the mix:

Noel Michaels’ Haskell Stakes trifectas: ($40 budget):

$5 trifecta: 2,6, with 2,6, with 3 ($10 total)

$5 trifecta box: 2,4,6 ($30)

Patrick Reed:

Grade 1 winner Further Ado (Coady Media)

To me, the Haskell drew a field comparable with this year’s Preakness Stakes, although smaller. There are a handful of solid, stakes-caliber horses here but no superstars. Fittingly, the 1-2 Preakness finishers are present and accounted for in Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, but I think Monmouth Park’s speed-friendly surface will help #2 Further Ado (2-1) the most. He’s been sharp in three of his four starts this year, with the Kentucky Derby the toss-out, and Irad Ortiz Jr. was in the saddle for each strong showing. Ortiz should have Further Ado either on the lead or right behind #6 Napoleon Solo (5-2) and ready to pounce at the top of the stretch.

Napoleon Solo is a game, hard-trying racehorse and has paired well with jockey Paco Lopez, and as hinted at above I think he’ll try to set the pace and lead from start to finish. So, I’ll pair those two horses in two different trifecta boxes and hope for a decent payout. For each tri box, I’ll use a different third horse – I’ll start with a $4 tri box using #4 The Puma (7-2) coming back of a layoff, and then bet a $1 tri box using longshot #3 Baby Vino (15-1). Total budget: $30.

Patrick Reed’s Haskell Stakes trifecta:

$4 trifecta box, 2,4,6 ($24)

$1 trifecta box 2,3,6 ($6)

Dan Tordjman:

Tampa Bay Derby winner The Puma (Eclipse Sportswire)

#4 The Puma (7-2) is my top pick in this year's Haskell. I know he’s a bit of a wildcard given he hasn't started since late March. But that layoff doesn't worry me. If anything, it tells me his connections have been careful with him all along, holding him out of the Kentucky Derby (and the rest of the Triple Crown series) rather than running him when he wasn’t ready for a maximum effort. He's already beaten the morning-line favorite, Further Ado. When last seen, The Puma lost to Commandment (runner-up in last month's Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets) by just a nose in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa.

Rounding out my trifecta, #2 Further Ado (2-1) earns the second spot. He bounced back from his Derby disappointment in a big way, cruising to a win in the Matt Winn Stakes. He’s the only horse in this field who has actually won at this Haskell distance of 1 1/8 miles. He should be able to race close enough to the pace to be dangerous late. I'm also using #5 Iron Honor (3-1) underneath. Two back, he got caught up close to a fast pace that collapsed, paving the way for three closers to finish 1-2-3. Last out in the Preakness, he was wide and off the pace in a race where speed held up, and he still ran a big second to #6 Napoleon Solo.

Dan Tordjman’s Haskell Stakes trifecta:

$5 trifecta: 4 with 2,5 with 2,5 ($10)

$1 trifecta: 4 with 2,5 with all ($10)

$1 trifecta: 2,5 with 2,4,5 with 2,4,5,6,7 ($12)