Journalism, the only 3-year-old to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year, captured his second consecutive Grade 1 race with another heart-stopping finish, surging late in the stretch jockey Umberto Rispoli for a half-length victory over Gosger in the 58th edition of Saturday’s $1 million, NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes.

Trained by Michael McCarthy and owned by the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert La Penta, Elayne Stables Five, and the Coolmore partners of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Journalism delighted the 41,876 fans in attendance.

The attendance was the largest on Haskell day since 2015.

The total handle of $21,999,962 set a record for the third straight year on Haskell day for a non-Breeders’ Cup event.

With the victory, the son of Hall of Famer Curlin and the recently deceased mare Mopotism earned a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1 through the “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series.

In the Haskell, Journalism’s winning effort seemed to be deja vu from his Preakness Stakes triumph in his last start when he ran down Gosger in deep stretch and nailed that rival at the wire, with Goal Oriented behind in fourth.

On Saturday, the colt didn’t get a good break from the gate and trailed near the back of the eight-horse field early. He raced off the honest pace of 23.33, 46.83, 1:10.75 and 1:35.71 before powering down the lane with a thrilling rally to cover the 1 1/8 miles in a final time of 1:48.15 on the fast track. He again nipped Gosger at the wire with Goal Oriented just a neck back in third.

“He can be tactical. You can ride him from behind, you can ride him from everywhere,” said Rispoli. “But today, I think, he was most special, probably more than the Preakness.

“Today, coming out of the gate he was upset with the kickback. Something was bothering him. He’d never been worried about the kickback before. So on the backside I decided to take him closer to Gosger, and I know the horse was going to take me wherever I want. I tried to keep him engaged going to the quarter pole. Once I pulled the stick out, he responded as a great horse. I got up in time.”

The Haskell marked the race debut for both McCarthy and Rispoli. Moreover, it was Rispoli’s first time riding at Monmouth Park.

“I was a little concerned,” McCarthy admitted. “He bounced out of the gate and broke just okay again. He was a little bit farther back than we would have like going into the first turn. Umberto pulled his stick going through the first turn and kind of gave him a slap and got him up in there.

“Up the backside he started picking off horses and he came with that long, measured run. It was long and it was steady. I looked at the wire and I looked at Journalism and I looked at the leaders (Gosger and Goal Oriented) and I’m glad we had a couple of extra jumps there to get the job done.”

Brendan Walsh, who trains the homebred Gosger for the Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stable, was let down after seeing his horse suffer a tough loss to Journalism while being piloted by Luis Saez.

“Luis gave him the perfect ride. Luis rode a fantastic race. My horse ran a great race,” said Walsh. “We got nailed again by a really good horse. I’m disappointed, but I’m not disappointed in the horse. He ran great. He’s been unlucky.

“He ran into this horse twice now. We’ll take him back to Kentucky and there are lots of good races in the future for him.”

Goal Oriented, the 7-2 second choice, dug in gamely in the stretch in a battle with 2-5 favorite Journalism and Gosger and fought to the finish. The colt was making just his fourth start and second in top-class company.

“We’re proud of his effort and he ran well,” said Bob Baffert, who holds the Haskell record with nine wins. “It was exciting turning for home and that’s all you can ask for in this game, to have something to cheer for. It was a great finish and we came close.

“The horse is improving and he’s getting better. Obviously, we would have liked to have won. But he’s getting better and better and improving. It was a great Haskell.”

The remaining order of finish was Bracket Buster, Burnham Square, National Law, Kentucky Outlaw, and Wildncrazynight.

Journalism was bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Corporation and has now improved his record to 6-2-1 in nine starts while upping his bankroll to $2,438,800. He returned $2.80 to win.

McCarthy said that there are no definitive plans for the now three-time Grade 1 winner and he will decide later once he gets Journalism back to his Southern California base. He is scheduled to depart Monmouth on Tuesday morning for the flight home.

“He’s very a very special horse,” said an emotional McCarthy shortly after the race.

Story by Lynne Snierson

Monmouth Park Publicity Staff