The prospective field is still taking shape for the William Hill Haskell but it’s never too early to throw out an opinion. 

In the early stages of handicapping, the word for this year’s race is SPEED.  There looks to be a lot of it.  Of the list of possible runners, Bayern, Social Inclusion and Wildcat Red all appear to be very fast early and there’s a likely contingent to be right on their tales.

At this point we don’t know if the filly Untapable will be in the Haskell starting gate, but should she find herself there, she will likely also find herself in the perfect stalking position early.  Should all the early speed actually make it to the track, the winner of the Haskell might be the horse who can maneuver into the perfect 3^rd or 4^th place stalking trip.

An interesting longshot for me (although I have a feeling he’s going to take a lot of money) is Long Branch Stakes runner-up Just Call Kenny.  Ever since his winning debut last summer at Monmouth, he’s been a horse that many people have been talking about.  He’s a regally-looking colt and to run the race he did in the Long Branch off that kind of layoff – going two turns for the first time – was quite impressive.  He’s never faced graded stakes competition before so he’ll have to raise his game big time, but second off a layoff he just might be able to do it.  Based on his PPs, he should be 15-1, but I have a feeling he’s going to be somewhere in the range of 8-1.  But either way I think Just Call Kenny is going to have a say in the outcome of the 2014 William Hill Haskell.