The Lead:
The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile division gets one of its key springboards Saturday at Monmouth Park when the Philip H. Iselin Stakes is renewed. The 1-1/16 miles event has been won by the likes of Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Spend A Buck, Skip Away, Ghostzapper, Formal Gold and more recently Code of Honor.

​Field Depth:
WEYBURN is the field's lone graded stakes winner, successful at the Grade 3 level. Stakes winners include FAR MO POWER, TRADEMARK, WHELEN SPRINGS and ZOZOS, the latter also Grade 2-placed. STEAL SUNSHINE is Grade 3-placed in search of his first stakes win. WEYBURN has held the strongest company lines overall.

Pace:
ZOZOS looks to have controlling speed in the Iselin, while TRADEMARK and WEYURN will be in closest pursuit. This race should be won from a horse near the lead based on projected set-up.

Our Eyes:
Here are my horse-by-horse notes.

1-WEYBURN: Strong second to Mandaloun by a neck at Monmouth in the 2021 Pegasus, we know he can handle the track. After 7 straight 1-turn races, trainer Todd Pletcher stretches this one back around 2 turns and hires hustling early rider Paco Lopez, an Iselin winner in 2011, 2020 and 2021. Pletcher won this race in 2005 and 2012. This one's 2-turn efforts in the Alysheba, Jim Dandy and Pegasus -- against tougher competition than this -- is very promising.

2-STEAL SUNSHINE: Finished a rallying third in April's 7-furlong Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream behind Iselin rival WEYBURN. He's yet to win in 4 starts this year and has lost 6 straight while inconsistently delivering his late kick.

3-FAR MO POWER: Jockey Dexter Haddock looks for back-to-back Iselin upsets after a 14-1 score in this race last year with Informative. Ten straight superfecta finishes for this 5-year-old gelding are a testament to consistency at Parx. He has some pace versatility, but likely tries to fire from slightly off the pace vs. these.

4-ZOZOS: Three straight triple-digit winning Beyer Speed Figures and the Brad Cox brand in the program should make this a solid post-time favorite in the public eye. Son of Munnings is out of a Forestry mare and probably at his very best at a mile, like his last 2 races at Churchill and Ellis. He can beat this level of competition up to 1-1/16 miles and will be a tough out Saturday.

5-TRADEMARK: Certainly wouldn't mind a little moisture in the track given his last 2 victories have come on wet going. Forecast calls for some rain Friday, but Saturday expected to be dry. His best races are when he's into the early mix and this pace set-up should have him in the first two or three down the backstretch. That's a plus compared to the local Salvator Mile bid when he was too far back before running third.

6-WHELEN SPRINGS: The only local winner in the field, this Street Sense colt scored an allowance here June 17 before a solid second in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on the stakes re-rise. Looks to have moved up in last 2 starts since moving to trainer Lindsay Schultz, a 25% barn in 2023. Veteran jockey Jose Ferrer won the 2000 Iselin.

Most Certain Exotics Contender:
ZOZOS is in peak form and gets a soft pace set-up as the speed.

Best Longshot Exotics Contender:
No big prices expected, but TRADEMARK should be a modest number and get a good trip.

Sending it in ($100 bankroll):
Respect ZOZOS, but really like the stretch-out, rail and rider for the top play: $100 win WEYBURN.