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All expected Haskell favorites at Monmouth

Fri 3rd, July 2009

Oceanport, NJ (Sports Network) - Two days after Arkansas Derby winner Papa Clem arrived at Monmouth Park for next month's Haskell Invitational. Belmont Stakes champ Summer Bird settled into his stall at the Jersey shore track.

With the arrival of Summer Bird and Papa Clem, the three projected favorites for the track's marquee race are now stabled here. Illinois Derby winner Musket Man is based at Monmouth Park.

Trained by Tim Ice, Summer Bird arrived by van from Louisiana early Friday morning. Ice accompanied the colt from Louisiana Downs with a stopover at Churchill Downs. A sleepy Ice said the three-year-old handled the trip better than the trainer.

"I'm tired, but he got off the van full of himself at Churchill," noted Ice, "and he was full of himself when we got here. He shipped great. I just want to take a nap.

"He'll be out on the track to train on Saturday and Sunday, and if everything's okay with him, he'll work on Monday. He's due for a work. After that, I'll get him on a Sunday work rotation. I like to work him a week before a race, and the Haskell is on a Sunday, so that will be his work day after this week."

Summer Bird, 11-1 in the Belmont Stakes, has two wins in five starts this year for $723,040. He was third to Papa Clem in the Arkansas Derby and sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

Owned and bred by Drs. K.K. and V. Devi Jayaraman, Summer Bird will be ridden in the $1 million Haskell by three-time Eclipse Award winner Kent Desormeaux. The pair combined to capture the Belmont Stakes and the jockey won last year's Haskell with Big Brown.

Papa Clem will tune-up for the Haskell with a start in the track's Long Branch Stakes on Saturday, July 11. Local favorite Musket Man is training up to the Haskell on Sunday, August 2.