Brad Grady's MGSW Girvin (Tale of Ekati) is the latest addition to what is expected to be a deep renewal of Monmouth Park's July 30 GI Haskell Invitational, trainer Joe Sharp said Thursday. The GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby winner recently finished a narrowly beaten second behind GIII Indiana Derby entrant Irap (Tiznow) in the June 24 GIII Ohio Derby at Thistledown.
“He arrived at Saratoga this morning,” said Sharp. “We'll get a work or two into him up here prior to the Haskell and ship down a couple of days before the race. I'd like for him to get a look and feel for the track, maybe school in the paddock before the race just to get to know his surroundings.”
Girvin seems to have bounced out of the Ohio Derby in fine form, posting a bullet four-furlong workout in :47.20 (1/22) July 9 over the Churchill Downs training track.
Sharp and Grady recently teamed to win Monmouth's final prep race for the Haskell, the July 8 Long Branch S., with the improving Phat Man (Munnings). Girvin, meanwhile, has finished out of the exacta in only one of his six career starts–a 13th-place finish over a wet-fast strip in the May 6 GI Kentucky Derby.
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