The biggest change to the 2008 schedule is the date switch for the Salvator Mile (gr. III), which will boast a purse of $300,000, double that of last year, and will be contested July 5 along with the $750,000 United Nations (gr. I). Both races will kick off this year’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge, Win and You’re In series.
“We are proud to offer such a lucrative stakes schedule,” said Dennis Dowd, senior vice president of racing for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which owns and operates Monmouth Park. “Monmouth’s stakes races have always attracted the top horses in all divisions and we look forward to presenting racing fans in New Jersey with talent-filled, competitive fields this summer.”
If including the $150,000 Long Branch, a non-graded stakes that is Monmouth’s traditional prep for the Haskell, the stakes schedule hits $4 million.
Other highlights of the 2008 racing season includes the $300,000 Iselin Stakes (gr. III) on Aug. 16, and the $300,000 Molly Pitcher (gr. II) on Aug. 24.