MONMOUTH: BISHOP’S BAY TOPS FIELD FOR SATURDAY’S SALVATOR MILE

By Tom Luicci —-

BISHOP’S BAY TOPS FIELD FOR SATURDAY’S SALVATOR MILE;

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Five-time graded stakes winner Bishop’s Bay and Grade 1 winner East Avenue head a field of nine runners for Saturday’s $150,000, Grade 3 Salvator Mile – one of four stakes races on Monmouth Park’s 10-race Haskell Preview Day card.

Trained by Brad Cox, Bishop’s Bay won the Salvator Mile a year ago and is 9-for-15 overall in his career with earnings of $2,512,800.

East Avenue won the Grade 1 Claiborne Futurity in 2024 for trainer Brendan Walsh, adding the Grade 3 Matt Winn to his credentials last year. He was eighth in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes a year ago.

The Haskell Preview Day card includes the $125,000 NYRA Bets Pegasus Stakes, the final local prep for the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes on July 18; the $125,000 Monmouth Stakes at a mile and an eighth on the grass, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf for fillies and mares, 3 and up.

Of the nine runners entered in the Salvator Mile, five are graded stakes winners.

Bishop’s Bay, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Uncle Mo, was fourth in the Grade 1 Saudi Cup in his season debut before finishing second in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes.

East Avenue has banked $1,045,245 from 10 career starts.

Other graded stakes winners in the Salvator Mile field are Giocoso, Grande and Point Dunne.

Grand Mo the First, Otter Mischief, Sea Streak and Offaly Cool round out the field for the 79the edition of the Salvator Mile, with the top two finishers receiving free entry and start fees to the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on the Haskell Stakes undercard.

The field for the mile and a sixteenth Pegasus Stakes consists of National Charter, Tricky Business, Star Sweeper, Schoolyardsuperman, Ponder and Dream and Baby Vino.

All six runners are seeking their first career stakes win, with the top two finishers in the Pegasus Stakes receiving free entry and start fees to the $1 million Haskell Stakes.

The Eatontown Stakes attracted a field of eight, including Whiskey Decision, who won last year’s edition for trainer Chad Brown. Gimme A Nother; Creative Stuff; Strutsherstuff; Don’t Jinx It; Pink Ruby; Grayosh and Rhee Wall round out the field.

The top two finishers in the Eatontown Stakes receive free entry and start fees to the Grade 3 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes on the Haskell undercard.

The Monmouth Stakes drew a field of eight: Sand Pipe; Ridari; Eldest Son; Program Trading; Multitask; Belouni; Naptown and Nebras.

The top two finishers in the Monmouth Stakes receive free entry and start fees to the Grade 2 United Nations on the Haskell undercard.

First race post time is 12:50 p.m.