Claire Novak 10y

Haskell no problem for Bayern

Horse Racing

Kaleem Shah's Bayern ran them off their feet July 27 in the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational, taking eight other sophomores gate-to-wire at Monmouth Park en route to a 7 ¼-length score.

Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable, the multiple Grade 1-winning filly favored at 7-5, came four wide into the stretch from fourth but lacked a bid after bumping with Social Inclusion at the start. She was edged by longshot Irish You Well in a photo and finished fifth.

Ridden by Martin Garcia, Bayern skipped away to set the pace from post 2 and never looked back. The speedy bay son of Offlee Wild clicked through early fractions of :23.54 seconds, :47.66 seconds, and 1:11.16 under a rail-skimming with Wildcat Red and Social Inclusion in pursuit, then widened off through a 1:35.49 mile before finishing the 1 ⅛-mile event in 1:47.82. Albano was a distant second, about seven lengths behind the winner, edging Wildcat Red, who completed the trifecta.

Bayern gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record seventh win in the Haskell while collecting his first grade I score. The colt has now aced back-to-back stakes both sprinting and staying, romping in the Haskell after dominating the seven-furlong Woody Stephens at Belmont Park by 7 ½ lengths.

Garcia also has previous Haskell scores, both aboard Baffert-trained runners. He took the 2010 edition on Lookin at Lucky and won in 2011 with Coil.

Off at odds of 9-2, Bayern returned $11.40, $7.20, and $5, while Albano paid $10.80 and $6.60. Wildcat Red brought $5.40 as Irish You Well edged Untapable in a photo for fourth. Just Call Kenny, Social Inclusion, Encryption, and Medal Count completed the order of finish.

Bayern earned an automatic berth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park; the Haskell is a qualifying race in the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series.

Bred in Kentucky by Helen Alexander out of the Thunder Gulch mare Alittlebitearly, Bayern was a $320,000 purchase at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic 2-year-olds in training sale from the Eddie Woods consignment. He is the first Grade 1 winner for his dam, who has produced three winners in as many starters, and now has a 4-1-1 record from seven starts. The winner's share of the Haskell purse pushed his earnings over the million mark, to $1,077,680.

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