Baby Vino has forced his way into the Haskell Stakes conversation after turning the NYRA Bets Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park into a one-horse show.
The Lindsay Schultz-trained colt, ridden by Paco Lopez, won the 1 1/16-mile Listed contest by 10 3/4 lengths on Haskell Preview Day, a performance that immediately changed the shape of his summer. The Pegasus is Monmouth’s final local stepping stone to the Grade 1 Haskell, and its winner earned free entry and start fees for the $1 million race on July 18.
A Monmouth Breakthrough With Real Consequence
Baby Vino had only broken his maiden at Oaklawn Park on May 1, but he looked a different proposition once asked to step into stakes company at Monmouth. Lopez rode him with confidence, and the son of Vino Rosso put the race away in the straight without being fully extended.
Monmouth Park reported that Baby Vino covered the trip in 1:44.36 and paid $7.80 to win, with Schultz saying afterwards that the Haskell was the logical next spot if the horse continued to do well.
That places him on a much bigger stage. ReadHorseRacing has already looked at how Monmouth Park opened its 2026 season under pressure, and a locally emerging Haskell contender gives the New Jersey track exactly the sort of sporting storyline it needs heading into midsummer.
Why The Haskell Question Matters
The Haskell is never just a lucrative summer Grade 1. It is often where the best three-year-olds are asked to prove whether they can carry spring form into the second half of the season, and this year’s race already has a serious Triple Crown thread running through it.
Paulick Report noted that Baby Vino is now on course to take on Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo, whose Laurel Park success was one of the defining races of the division’s middle leg. That would give Schultz’s colt a far deeper test than the Pegasus, but it would also give his connections a chance to find out quickly whether his Monmouth romp was simply a well-spotted win or the start of a genuine Grade 1 campaign.
The wider three-year-old picture remains lively, with Golden Tempo already pushing into the older-horse debate after the Belmont and several spring runners being redirected towards the major summer targets.
Schultz Has A Colt Moving The Right Way
Schultz has made no attempt to overstate the position. Baby Vino had needed time, and his five-start route to a maiden win was not the profile of an obvious overnight star. But the raw ability has been there, and the Pegasus suggested the penny may have dropped at the right point of the season.
His owner group, Cosmo Stable, is also new enough to the bigger-race scene for this to carry an extra charge. The colt’s rapid move from maiden winner to Haskell candidate is the kind of leap that can expose a horse, but it can also reveal one who has been improving faster than the programme book can keep up with him.
For Monmouth, the intrigue is obvious. A colt who dominated the local prep now has a ticket to the race that defines the meet. For Schultz, it is a chance to test a talented but still-developing horse against the top of his generation.
Baby Vino has not yet earned the right to be treated as a finished article. He has, though, earned the right to be taken seriously when the Haskell picture tightens, and that is a notable shift for a colt who was still a maiden at the start of May.
