A Day at the Racetrack – Haskell Invitational

August 4, 2016 newjerseyisntboring

Thanks to America’s Best Racing, my husband and I got to attend our first Haskell Invitational racing event at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ.

The Haskell Invitational is an American Grade I race for thoroughbred horses. It is a major race for three-year-old horses in between the U.S. Triple Crown series and the Breeders’ Cup. Currently the race offers a purse of US $1,000,000 and awards one of the most prestigious trophies in U.S. thoroughbred racing aka Haskell Invitational Trophy. Last year, American Pharaoh (American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2015), won the race and over 60,000 people attended Monmouth Park to see him. So I was excited to come in 2016 to see what it was all about.

If you haven’t been to Monmouth Park, it is a beautiful place to go. It’s clean, it’s big, and even if you’re not into horse racing it’s a great way to spend the day. You can bring in your own food and drink (even beer!), sit on the lawn…watch the race on a TV and listen to live music. It’s so affordable too, it’s worth going at least once to see if you’ll like it.

Thanks to America’s Best Racing, we got to stand in the paddock area which usually only the owner’s can do. In the paddock you can look at the horses up close, which can help you in making a decision in what horse to bet on. You also get to see the jockey’s get on their horses before heading to the track.

In between one of the races, I made a new friend.

I let a horse at the #haskellinvitational today! See more on snapchat ?NJISNTBORING #njisntboring #monmouthpark #oceanportnj #monmouthcounty #americasbestracing #njspots #horse #nj #newjersey @americasbestracing @monmouthparkracetrack

A video posted by New Jersey Isn’t Boring (@newjerseyisntboring) on Jul 31, 2016 at 11:19am PDT

All things considered, we really lucked out with the weather. It was supposed to downpour all day, and luckily the rain didn’t last the entire time we were there. We were also in the grandstand, so we were covered. Having said that, the track itself was slop making it more difficult for the horses and their jockeys to compete.

On to the races…

Personally I think the horses getting out the gate is just as exciting as seeing who wins.

We really had a great time in the grandstand! The crowd went wild for every race and it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement!

Last time we were at the race track we bet numerous times and lost, so although this was the Haskell and the winnings were HUGE we opted to just spectate this year. We did get a kick out of the horse’s name though.