Monmouth Park

Meet Trainer Kelly Breen and Ruler On Ice

Breen grew up in Old Bridge, trains at Monmouth Park, and has two horses in the bidding for this year's $1 Million Resorts Casino Haskell Invitational

Trainer Kelly Breen won this year's Belmont Stakes with Ruler On Ice, and he's hopeful his 3-year-old can beat out Preakness winner Shackleford again for the $1 Million Resorts Casino Haskell Invitational trophy this Sunday. Breen currently resides in Farmingdale, and says in the above video (shot shortly after his big win at Belmont) that he grew up in Old Bridge, and learned to ride horses at Baymar Farms in Morganville when he was 13. Ruler On Ice is owned by George and Lori Hall, of Rumson, who chose Breen to be their private trainer in 2007.

•  1 Comment
• Photos (8)
• Videos (1)

Peter W Bennett

8:24 pm on Thursday, July 28, 2011

Best of luck on Sunday.   more ›

Monmouth Park

'Fire' and 'Ice' Gear Up for Haskell, Shackleford in Town

Trainer Kelly Breen worked his Belmont and Pegasus winners Sunday, Preakness winner arrives today

Shortly before the fifth race Sunday, racing fans got a Haskell preview when local trainer Kelly Breen worked his winning duo of Ruler On Ice and Pants On Fire over four furlongs, with Pants On Fire winning by a nose at 47.3 seconds. “Absolutely perfect,” Breen said in a release from the Monmouth Park press department. “I wanted them to go just under 48 seconds. They’re both coming off wins and I just want to keep them sharp. They looked good coming back, both had lots of energy. They’ll gallop up to the race now. Just take it easy.” The $1 million Resorts Haskell Invitational, which runs a mile and an eighth in the dirt, is the biggest race of the season for Monmouth Park, and has produced five year-end champions and a pair of Horse of …

• Photos (3)

Monmouth Park

Preakness and Belmont Winners to Battle at Haskell

Shackleford and locally-stabled Ruler On Ice among eight elite three-year-olds set to face off in Monmouth Park's main event July 31

Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford is headed for the $1 Million Resorts Casino Haskell Invitational next Sunday at Monmouth Park, where local trainer Kelly Breen's wily Ruler On Ice will be waiting for him. When the two horses last met at the Belmont Stakes on a wet Saturday in early June, Ruler On Ice charged through the mud past a tired Shackleford in the final turn of the one and a half mile course. Neither horse has raced since the Belmont. Dale Romans has been training Shackleford at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, most recently running 59.60 in a five furlong (5/8 mile) workout on Sunday. Ruler On Ice also ran Sunday, clocking in at 1:02.60 over five furlongs at Monmouth. Fire and Ice Ruler On Ice is not the only horse that Breen, of …

• Photos (1)

Monmouth's Ruler on Ice Wins Belmont Stakes

The Monmouth Park-trained gelding stalked the pace and shocked the field at 24-1 odds, swiping the third jewel of racing's Triple Crown from heavily-favored competition.

Ruler On Ice (24-1), a well-traveled gelding trained at Monmouth Park by Tinton Falls resident Kelly Breen, charged to a stunning victory past an elite field of young thoroughbreds in the 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes Saturday. Excluded from the Kentucky Derby for not having enough graded earnings, Ruler On Ice was able to get an early jump on Derby winner Animal Kingdom, who nearly bucked jockey John Velazquez out of the gate. Ruler On Ice stalked the pace behind Preakness victor Shackleford for much of the race before Peruvian jockey Jose Valdivia, Jr. turned on the nitrous to blast past Stay Thirsty in the final stretch of the one and a half mile dirt course. "I'm feeling like I've got a lot of horse underneath me," Valdivia told …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (5)