As much as trainer Kelly Breen would prefer not to run his horses against each other, sometimes, he knows, you simply have no choice. That’s the case with Quizler and Versus, a pair of 3-year-old turf specialists.

Both are entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass at Monmouth Park and Breen said he intends to run both.

The Tale of the Cat has attracted a field of 10 (plus one MTO).

“Quizler for sure is going to run rain or shine,” said Breen. “I wasn’t thinking that way at first about Versus but he had an unbelievable workout on the dirt recently. That workout may have opened my eyes a little because he has never breezed that well on the dirt before so he may take to it.

“So I’d say they’re both going to run. They’re both 3-year-olds, they’ve both run well on the grass and they’re ready.”

With entries from trainers Michael Stidham (Tom’s Magic), George Weaver (Golden Channel), Kathleen O’Connell (Flash Frozen), Chad Brown (Uncatalyzed), Graham Motion (Soleil Volant), Jorge Delgado (Cool Intentions), Danny Gargan (Mythical Man) and Jorge Duarte (Outrunner) the Tale of the Cat has come up as a significant test, weather permitting.

Breen believes both of his horses are up to the challenge.

Quizler, owned by Richard Malouf, was claimed as a maiden for $35,000 on Feb. 27.

Breen wheeled back the Florida-bred son of Curlin’s Honor a week later in Maiden Special Weight company on the grass at Gulfstream and the colt won. He then won his next start in an optional claimer before finishing third in the off-the-turf Jersey Derby in the slop on May 31 at Monmouth Park.

“We ran him back a week after claiming him – we normally don’t do that – because there was a race that fit and it was the only one on the Gulfstream condition book for him,” said Breen. “It was a good return on investment right away. He’s 2-for-2 on the grass with us with a third on the main track for the three starts we have had him.

“Long range we think he’s an allowance horse, if not maybe a little more.”

Versus, owned by Screen Door Stables, has been idle since an off-the-board finish in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland on April 7. Prior to that, the Kentucky-bred son of Tiz the Law had two wins and a second in his first four career starts.

All five of his lifetime starts have been on the grass.

“He had some rough travel before and after his last race, from Gulfstream to Kentucky and then back to Gulfstream. Now he’s at Monmouth Park,” said Breen, who enters the three-day weekend of live racing with 1,096 career wins. “I think he is ready to run a big race.

“It was just a matter of timing for this race. He’s a grass horse and he’s here so it all kind of fit for him. He had a good workout last week over the dirt, which honestly he hasn’t done in a while, so it was a very impressive workout.”