The Haskell (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
MTH- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
July 19, 2025

One of the top races of the summer for three-year-olds took place Saturday as a field of nine took part in the Haskell, seeking the winner’s share of the $1,000.000 purse and a coveted spot in the BC Classic. Those prizes are in the hands of Delta Farms as Fawkes went on to impressively win by a length. It’s just the second win for this colt, one who broke his maiden in the Wood Memorial, and it will be interesting to see if he can add to that between now and the BC later this year. It’s the first win in the Haskell for Delta Farms, as well as for the king of PRX, jockey F Pennington. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:47.38, the second fastest in the history of the race. Only Hiei two years ago was faster. Let’s take a look at it now:

(½ Mile- :46.86)- From the rail, Grit And Grind goes out to the lead for Mb Stables and will hold a length advantage over TwinTowersRacing’s Without Warning into the backstretch. Asgar’s No Real Drama is third, and about a half-length to the outside of Without Warning. Zero Aggression, trained by Yates Racing, runs four wide while in the fourth spot, narrowly over the race’s eventual winner from Delta Farms, Fawkes, who is in close to the rail. Daemon is sixth and hoping that this race will represent a reversal of recent for him and trainer Alydar Stables. There’s a gap of about two to the KYD winner, Extreme Jet (Mb Stabes), with Criminal Law (D J C Racing Stables) nearby on the outside. At the back, Continental (Barcelona Farms) is unconcerned with the early pace.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.93)- This portion of the race is completely uneventful, as all horses simply maintain their stride with no one making a move and keeping the same margins, so let’s just move on without repeating everything.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Plenty to talk about now, as Fawkes comes to life as soon as the run around the turn begins. With Grit And Grind starting to inch a little further away from Without Warning, there became an opening for F Pennington to take advantage of with Fawkes, and he would not wait to capitalize on it. The Wood Memorial winner would respond with plenty of run and actually made a lot quicker work of Grit And Grind than had been anticipated. Entering the stretch, it was now Fawkes in front, by about a length. For now, Grit And Grind is still second, but he is about to lose that position to No Real Drama. Without Warning is still with this group but seemed to be lacking some fight to battle it out with them. Zero Aggression was struggling with his far outside trip and losing ground, and it’s not looking good for Daemon, as he’s lacking response. Extreme Jet isn’t looking like his normal step, either, but remember that win-non win pattern of his. This isn’t his race. Think Travers (perhaps). Criminal Law ran evenly with him. At the back, Continental is starting to look more interested.

(Finish- 1:47.38)- Fawkes has taken control of this race in the stretch, and he would not let up, running well all the way to the wire, while never really being in jeopardy. Job well done for this one, for sure. Continental ran very well in the stretch, and caught everyone but Fawkes, and I look forward to seeing where he ends up next. He prevailed in a place photo with No Real Drama. Extreme Jet gets fourth, and you can spin that as, even when he’s rather “blah”, he’s still running fourth, if you want. Grit And Grind and Criminal Law dead for fifth, while Without Warning disappointed me here, fading to seventh. Zero Aggression and Daemon round it out.

About the Winner- Fawkes, trained by Delta Farms and ridden to victory by F Pennington, is a three-year-old colt by Buckbeak and is out of Odious. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Delta Farms as a third quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his second in eight starts, and his second graded win. His career earnings are now $1,369.650.

Track: Fast
Time: :46⁴  1:10⁴  1:35¹  1:47¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 10 Paid 172.80
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 10 – 6 Paid 663.00

Scratched: Boss Spearman(L)

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES