Ten best horses at Monmouth Park, pre-American Pharoah

OCEANPORT – I knew it would be a daunting task when I set out to identify the 10 greatest horses ever to run at Monmouth Park, as the 70th season of world-class racing was getting under way in May at the one-mile oval along Oceanport Avenue.

But I didn’t know just how daunting it would be until I really started digging into the details contained on the Hall of Champions page in the track’s media guide, which lists 63 of the greatest ever to run at the historic track, each with a banner hanging on the main floor of the grandstand. Among those runners, some 29 are enshrined at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga, N.Y.

And that was before it was announced that American Pharoah would run in this year’s William Hill Haskell Invitational.

So while the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, and the only one ever to make an appearance at the Jersey Shore, goes straight to the top of any list, that doesn’t in any way demean the quality of racing local fans have enjoyed from the golden era of the sport after World War II to today’s ever-shifting landscape.

In sifting through the piles of results and statistics for those who came before American Pharoah, I tried to weigh factors like the overall impact a horse had on the sport, Monmouth Park and the Jersey Shore, even if their time here was was relatively brief.

As always, these things are highly subjective. But I’m certain the classic stories and old photographs will make it clear why Monmouth Park has long been considered one of the premier destinations for the country’s top thoroughbreds:

Alydar

While this 2-year-old colt by Raise a Native won the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park in 1977, it was a year later that she forged arguably the greatest rivalry the sport has ever witnessed, finishing second to Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races, losing all three by a combined total of less than two lengths. In all, Affirmed and Alydar would meet ten times on the track, with Alydar winning three, including a victory at the 1978 Travers Stakes by disqualification.

Alysheba

The son of Alydar went on to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987 before Bet Twice won the Belmont Stakes. It was the first hint of what was to come later that summer, when the two, along with Lost Code, engaged in the greatest Haskell Invitational of them all. With Lost Code hanging on gamely on the front end, Bet Twice finally took the lead deep in the stretch before holding off Alysheba, who who was closing on the outside. Alysheba would come back to win the 1988 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Bet Twice

The Jimmy Croll-trained son of Sportin’ Life was truly a Monmouth Park horse, having won the Sapling Stakes there in 1986 as a 2-year-old. After finishing second to Alysheba at both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Bet Twice emerged with a 14-length victory at the Belmont Stakes before his stirring Haskell victory two months later. As a 4-year-old, Bet Twice made up for his Preakness defeat by beating Alysheba at the Pimlico Special and later finished second at the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth.

Bold Ruler

As good as the 1957 Horse of the Year was on the track, he’s best known for having sired Secretariat, along with 10 other champions. In fact, Bold Ruler was the leading sire in North America for seven straight years, beginning in 1963 and then again in 1973, when Secretariat won the Triple Crown. But before heading off to the breeders’ shed, the final race of Bold Ruler’s career was on July 19, 1958, when he captured the Monmouth Handicap. It was the final chapter in a career that saw him win 23 of his 33 career starts.

Holy Bull

It’s impossible to tell the history of Monmouth Park without mentioning Holy Bull, the Jimmy Croll-trained runner who was named Horse of the Year in 1994. He was a local horse through and through, at Monmouth for his first start as part of an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign. He returned in 1994 to win the Haskell Invitational before capturing the Travers and Woodward stakes in New York. He won 13 of his 16 career starts.

Point Given

Of the seven Haskell winners trainer Bob Baffert has sent postward at Monmouth Park, none was better than Point Given. After a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Kentucky Derby, Point Given never lost again. He came back with victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes before shipping to Monmouth Park, where jockey Gary Stevens guided him to victory over a very game Touch Tone on the inside. His efforts earned him Horse of the Year in 2001.

Rachel Alexandra

No horse has created more buzz around Monmouth Park in recent years than the dynamic daughter of Medaglia d’Oro did when she showed up here in 2009 in the wake of her dominating performance at the Kentucky Oaks, before beating the boys in the Preakness Stakes. She was as advertised, using an explosive stretch run to pull away from Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird. She went on to beat the boys again in the Woodward Stakes, en route to Horse of the Year honors, before returning to Monmouth in 2010 to win the Lady’s Secret.

Ruffian

The first indication of just how talented this daughter of Reviewer was came on July 27, 1974, when she rolled to her first Grade I victory, beating Hot N Nasty in the Sorority Stakes at Monmouth. In the 10 career starts she finished, she never lost. She was named the champion 2-year-old filly and 3-year-old-filly in 1974 and 1975, respectively, eventually named the top female racehorse of the 20th century. But tragically, Ruffian had to be humanely destroyed after breaking her right foreleg in a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure on July 6, 1975, at Belmont Park.

Skip Away

Trainer Sonny Hine, a Monmouth Park fixture, did a masterful job guiding the career of this gray son of Skip Trial, who went on to post 10 Grade I victories during his career. He captured the 1996 Haskell Invitational and was second to Formal Gold at the Iselin Handicap a year later, eventually winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in 1997. He returned to win the Iselin in 1998, on his way to Horse of the Year honors.

Spectacular Bid

The 1980 Horse of the Year, Spectacular Bid won 26 of his 30 career starts, with jockey Willie Shoemaker guiding him to the wire first in the 1980 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park. A year earlier, Spectacular Bid won the first two legs of the Triple Crown before Coastal pulled off the upset at the Belmont Stakes. Later that year he made his way to New Jersey to win the Meadowlands Cup.

Staff writer Stephen Edelson is an Asbury Park Press columnist: sedelson@gannettnj.com; Twitter: @SteveEdelsonAPP