Musket Man hopes to punch Classic ticket in Monmouth Cup

Musket Man has yet to finish worse than third in his 13-race career (Bill Denver/Equi-Photo) Millionaire MUSKET MAN (Yonaguska) is a familiar name at Monmouth Park because trainer Derek Ryan has had the Grade 2 hero in his barn the past two seasons at the Jersey Shore. And yet, the four-year-old colt will be making his local debut when he goes off as the favorite in Saturday’s $300,000 Monmouth Cup (G2), which could also serve as a prelude to the Breeders’ Cup. He prepped for this race with an eye-catching breeze at Monmouth last Sunday, drilling five furlongs in a bullet 1:00 4/5, the best of 60 works at the distance. Jockey Eibar Coa was aboard. “He breezed super,” Ryan said. “He’s good to go now.” Musket Man, owned by Eric Fein and Vic Carlson, has met only the best the past two years, one of the reasons he is the 2-1 choice on Brad Thomas’s morning line for the 1 1/8-mile Cup, which is being run at Monmouth for the first time after 32 renewals at the Meadowlands. Last year, the colt was a force in the Triple Crown races after winning the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and the Illinois Derby (G2). He finished third in the Kentucky Derby (G1), just a nose behind Pioneerof the Nile after getting knocked off stride in deep stretch. In the Preakness S. (G1), he once again had trouble in the stretch and finished third behind Rachel Alexandra, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths by the 2009 Horse of the Year.

Musket Man was turned out after that, and came back to the track in February
at Tampa Bay, winning the Super S.. That is his only victory in five starts this
year, but the horses who have beaten him the last four starts are all in
racing’s Who’s Who 2010.

In the Carter H. (G1), Musket Man had trouble and was beaten a nose by
Warrior’s Reward (Medaglia d’Oro). In the Metropolitan H. (G1) two starts back,
he was beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Quality Road (Elusive Quality). And in the
Whitney H. (G1), his most recent start on August 7, he finished less than two
lengths behind Blame (Arch) and Quality Road.

And, if he is to take another crack at those heavyheads in the Breeders’ Cup
Classic (G1) on November 6, he has to win his way into the Churchill Downs
starting gate.

“He’s got to win to go to the Classic,” Ryan said. “He needs a win so he can
go into the race off a positive.

“That’s why he ran in the (2009) Illinois Derby,” the trainer said. “I wanted
him to go into the Kentucky Derby in a positive way.”

Ryan has been conservative with Musket Man, which has proved the right
approach, since the colt has never been out of the money in 13 starts, with a
record of 6-2-5 and earnings of $1,175,570.

He made only one start this summer, in the Whitney, which was part of Ryan’s
plan to have a fresh, fit horse for the fall.

“He’s a big horse,” the trainer said, “and he hates hot weather. So the plan
was to run him in the Carter and Met Mile in the spring, and just one race, the
Whitney, in the summer.

“Then we sent him down to the Vinery in Ocala to give him a break,” Ryan
said. “They have a pool there like those in Australia, where a horse can walk in
four feet of water and get a lot of exercise and still go easy on his joints.”

Musket Man had two breezes at the Vinery before shipping back to Monmouth,
Ryan said, and his drill here put him on edge for Saturday’s race.