Keen Ice trainer Dale Romans: 'We're in trouble' vs. American Pharoah

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Dale Romans watched Triple Crown winner American Pharoah glide by during an effortless gallop at Monmouth Park and said, “I think we’re in trouble.”

He added, “I need a faster horse.”

And Romans loves his 3-year-old Keen Ice, who twice has been well-beaten by American Pharoah, when a trouble-plagued seventh in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes. Now, Donegal Racing’s colt will take on American Pharoah again in Sunday’s $1.75 million William Hill Haskell Invitational (NBC, post time 5:52 p.m. ET) at Monmouth Park.

“He’s training great, it’s just a matter if he’s good enough or not,” Romans said of Keen Ice. “We’re realistic. We know handicapping that we can’t beat American Pharoah. But it’s horse racing. Things happen. Secretariat, it didn’t look on paper that Onion could beat him – or Prove Out.”

Romans has no regrets that he was at Monmouth Park Friday and not Saratoga for Saturday’s $600,000 Jim Dandy.

“My horse doesn’t know it; he thinks he’s the best,” Romans said. “But that horse looks really good, for what he’s been through. I haven’t seen American Pharoah since Belmont. He looks spectacular. A horse can’t go any better than he just went.

“… Something has to go wrong for him to lose, and we all know it. Nobody is going to beat this horse if everybody is at their best.”

Still, Romans loves going big-game hunting. His approach is that the worst that can happen is his grandkids someday will look at American Pharoah’s racing history and see where ol’ Grandpa Dale’s horse ran in behind the 2015 Triple Crown winner.

“It’s sort of like being on the poster of the guy dunking – and you’re the guy getting dunked on,” he said. “But at least you’re in the game.”

If it is disconcerting for opposing horsemen to watch American Pharoah train, Eddie Plesa, who will saddle Mr. Jordan, notes: “Listen, you’re going up against a champion. You have to go into there with confidence. Now, we’re talking about horses. We’re not talking about people. So mind games don’t get in the way of a horse. He’s going to go out; he’s going to run. Because that’s what horses do.

“I can just tell you my horse is ready to run…. We plan to be part of the party. Three people own the horse, my wife and two others. One group is flying in on a helicopter and they’re going to land on the grounds. The other is coming in from Idaho in a private plane. They’re excited about the race. They’re excited about seeing their horse run against American Pharoah.”

Wayne Catalano, trainer of the late-running Monmouth allowance winner Top Clearance, decided to take a shot at the Haskell when it appeared to be a small field. Top Clearance never won a race until a week after American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes.

“It’s a beautiful thing to be in this kind of race,” he said. “My phone is set for 4:20 every day. That’s why we come out here every day, to get to these big races and have the big horse. ”

Still, he says American Pharoah “would have to not have his A game and my horse have his A-plus game to win… We’re going to strategy to be second. We’re not going to do something silly and lose second.”

It’s unclear how many horses will actually start among the eight 3-year-olds entered. Monmouth racing secretary Mike Dempsey said he expects one, maybe two, of the Todd Pletcher-trained trio of Competitive Edge, Nonna’s Boy and Dontbetwithbruno to compete. Dempsey said Mike Smith, named to ride Competitive Edge, will be on one of the others if Competitive Edge instead runs in the Jim Dandy.

Unlike the Triple Crown races, Haskell horses don’t have to be on the grounds until eight hours before post time Sunday. Any Pletcher horse would ship very early that morning from Saratoga.

A crowd surpassing 60,000 – which would easily be a record – is anticipated Sunday. Asked how many people the track can accommodate, racetrack head Bob Kulina said, “We don’t know. Mid-sixties I think we’ll be fine, but we just don’t know. This is great for our game, and hopefully we can move forward off it.”

American Pharoah had his first gallop around Monmouth Park on Friday morning, with several thousand watching and cheering from the grandstand.

Kulina, president of Darby Development LLC that runs Monmouth for the New Jersey horsemen, acknowledged that American Pharoah is getting for training bigger crowds than for some live race days.

“Sad but true,” he said. “That’s what this horse is. Everybody laughs when I say this horse can help our industry grow fans. This is great for our game, and hopefully we can move forward with it.

Monmouth Park has had eight prior Kentucky Derby winners compete in the Haskell, starting with Dust Commander in 1970 and most recently Super Saver in 2010. (Their combined record: 2 for 8). But the Jersey Shore track has never had a Triple Crown winner.

“The whole feel of this event is different,” Kulina said. “Derby winners are still, more or less, when it gets down to summer, (attracting) semi-insiders, semi- ‘our people’, lapsed fans who know about it. This horse is reaching everybody. If you’re any type of sports fans, you know this horse is running this weekend. We’re glad he’s running at Monmouth Park. I think he transcends even what we consider normally great.”