Point Given doesn’t disappoint at Haskell Invitational

FARRAH MAFFAI Point Given and jockey Gary Stevens cross the finish line ahead of Burning Roma and Touch Tone at the 34th running of the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport on Sunday.

The world of horse racing’s top star came to Monmouth Park in Oceanport on Sunday, and ran away with the $1.5 million Haskell Invitational, as expected.

A record 47,127 people packed Monmouth Park just for a chance to see Point Given, the nation’s leading 3-year-old thoroughbred, top the field after going out as an overwhelming 1-5 favorite in the 34th running of the Haskell. It was another brilliant performance from the Bob Baffert-trained horse, who carried jockey Gary Stevens to yet another major win in his hall-of-fame career.

Given won the race by a half-length over Touch Tone, who went off at 13-1, and the third-place horse, Burning Roma, a 7-1 entrant. It was not a dominant performance from the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, but after a grueling stretch drive, Point Given showed everyone in attendance just how special a horse he is.

Weighing in at a high weight of 124 pounds, Given ran the mile and an eighth in 1:49 2/5, and raised his career earnings to $3,368,500. His victory amounted to low numbers across the board ($2.70, $2.40 and $2.10), but many in attendance were satisfied with just being able to see the legendary horse in person.

FARRAH MAFFAI Point Given smiles for the camera before getting saddled up prior to winning the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday.

Coming off a two-month hiatus, Point Given was spotting its rivals between 5 and 10 pounds in the handicap. Given also wore a bar shoe to protect its left rear foot. But perhaps its biggest obstacle was a misunderstanding between Baffert and Stevens just moments before the race.

According to reports, Baffert wanted to remind Stevens to keep the stick in his left hand turning for home, because the colt tends to lean in when he has horses inside of him in the stretch. But the message that reached Stevens was to keep the stick in his left hand coming out of the gate.

The last-minute instruction apparently annoyed the veteran jockey, who said after the race that he doesn’t need to be told that the game plan has changed right before the start of the race.

Out of the gate, Point Given fell behind both Touch Tone and Hero’s Tribute, who got the first quarter-mile in 22 3/5ths. By the half, Touch Tone was at 46 4/5ths, and appeared to be in good shape in his bid for an upset.

But as the capacity crowd rose to its feet, Point Given rose to the occasion. Although it seemed to be a premature move, Stevens rode the colt to the front of the field, surprising many in attendance, particularly Baffert. But once Point Given made it to the front, the race was over. The Colt ran the last eighth in 13 1/5.

In the winner’s circle, Baffert and Stevens argued the jockey’s riding, while the standing-room-only crowd watched in confusion. The winner’s circle is not normally the place for such heated discussions.

But Point Given is not a normal horse, as proven by his performance on Sunday. Despite a series of events that would mark the downfall of most horses, the horse racing world’s top celebrity overcame everything and gave the type of performance expected of a colt who is now a lock to be named Horse of the Year.

If Point Given had anything left to prove on Sunday, mission accomplished, or better yet, point proven.

Jockey Rick Wilson made a successful return to Monmouth Park. He was aboard two winners on Haskell Day. He piloted Cousin Gigi to a win in the Eatontown Handicap and was on Star Over the Bay in an allowance race.

Monmouth’s leading jockey (now that Joe Bravo is sidelined), Eibar Coa, also had a double, as did Jose Ferrer and Chuck Lopez. Coa won the first race and also took the Lady’s Secret on Miss Linda. Ferrer and Spruce Run captured the Restoration Stakes and the Salvator Mile with Sea of Tranquillity.

Lopez rode Key Lory under the wire, first in the Oceanport Handicap, guiding his charge to victory over the turf course. It was Key Lory’s first try on the grass.

Now the track can point toward The Sapling and the Iselin in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile there’s a nice set of stakes races on tap this weekend, as well as the Lincroft Handicap. Fillies will be featured in the Candy Clair Stakes on Saturday when the three-year-old ladies go after each other at five furlongs on the turf. They will be contending for the $45,000 purse.

On Sunday, McDonald’s Family Fun Day, the Lincroft will be run along with the Twin Light Stakes. The Twin Lights is for three-year-old fillies going a mile and an eighth on the turf. The race carries a $50,000 purse. The $45,000 Lincroft Handicap is for New Jersey breeds three years old and up. It will be contested on the turf at a mile.

An eight-year-old course record was smashed last week when Robby Alvarado rode Dennis Manning-trained Ladies Night In to a mile record over the turf of 1:36.1. Burst of Applause had covered the mile on the Lennox Course in 1:36.2 back in 1993. On Saturday’s card, Coa rode Goodthingstocome to a win in a claiming race. A harbinger of things to come on Sunday, it was Goodthingstocome’s first win in two years.