A field of seven older horses will contest Sunday's $350,000 Philip H. Iselin Handicap (gr. II) with Include the topweight at 120 pounds and likely favorite in the mile and an eighth event.Include, owned by Robert Meyerhoff and trained by new Hall of Famer Bud Delp, was scheduled to arrive at Monmouth early Saturday afternoon after a van ride from Laurel Park in Maryland. Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who is riding in several stakes at Arlington Park today, will be in to take mount on Include. They finished third last out in the grade II Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs on June 1.Four of the entrants for this 67th running of the Iselin 'Cap are on the scene. Martin Schwartz's Bowman's Band, who arrived from Delaware Thursday, was on the track again this morning as he jogged a mile and galloped a mile. Winner of the Carpenter Memorial at Delaware last out, Bowman's Band will carry second highweight of 117 pounds with leading Monmouth jockey Eibar Coa aboard.
Edward P. Evans' Cat's at Home galloped once around the Monmouth oval this morning. Winner of the Skip Away Stakes here in July, the Mark Hennig-trained 5-year-old carries 116 pounds and gets a new rider in Jose Velez Jr.G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s First Lieutenant, disqualified from victory in the grade III Salvator Mile here last out, galloped a mile and a half Saturday morning. The 5-year-old son of Sea Hero, trained by Phil Oliver, totes 114 with Carlos Cruz back in the irons.Phantom House Farm's Gerosa, who had his winning streak stopped in the Salvator Mile last out, schooled in the gate Saturday morning, then jogged around the oval. The John Forbes-trained 5-year-old carries 113 pounds with Eddie King Jr. returning aboard.The other two entrants, Wire to Wire Stable's Really Irish and Jayeff B Stable's Runspastum, will ship in Sunday morning.
Runspastum, trained by Alan Goldberg, is stabled at Middletown Training Center, just a few miles from Monmouth Park. Third behind Bowman's Band at Delaware last out when they carried equal weights of 116 pounds, he gets in the Iselin with 114 and Julian Pimentel in the saddle for the first time. Really Irish is training at the Philadelphia Park base of trainer Richard Vega. He carries 113 with Roberto Alvarado aboard for the first time.
The field for the 1 1/8 mile Philip H. Iselin Handicap (gr. II):Post--Horse, Age, Sex, Weight, Jockey
1--Bowman's Band, 4, Colt, 117, Eibar Coa
2--Cat's At Home, 5, Horse, 116, Jose A. Velez, Jr.
3--Include, 5, Horse, 120, Jerry D. Bailey
4--First Lieutenant, 5, Horse, 114, Carlos M. Cruz
5--Really Irish, 5, Horse, 113, Roberto Alvarado, Jr.
6--Gerosa, 5, Horse, 113, Edwin L. King, Jr.
7--Runspastum, 5, Horse, 114, Julian Pimentel