Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
MEMORABLE MET MILE
CODE OF HONOR AMONG STAR-STUDDED FIELD,
ELMONT, N.Y. – It doesn’t matter if it’s run on Memorial Day, Belmont Stakes Day, or the Fourth of July, the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap never fails to come up strong.
Saturday’s 127th edition of the Met Mile drew a stellar field topped by Grade 1 winners McKinzie, Code of Honor, and Vekoma, each coming off a solid victory four weeks ago. In-form runners Endorsed, Mr Freeze, and Warrior’s Charge add to its depth, while Network Effect and Hog Creek Hustle could contend on their best.
The $500,000 Met Mile, which offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 7, tops an 11-race card with other four other graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Manhattan on turf.
Five years ago, Honor Code gave trainer Shug McGaughey his lone victory in the Met Mile, powering home by 3 3/4 lengths. Similar only in name, Code of Honor – a son of Noble Mission – looks to give McGaughey another victory in this stallionmaking race.
McGaughey didn’t necessarily have the Met Mile as his target when he ran Code of Honor in the Westchester for his 4-year-old debut here on June 6. But the manner in which he won – running down Endorsed by a half-length – and the way he has acted and trained since, prompted McGaughey to bring him back in four weeks.
“Basically, just his energy level, how he worked,” McGaughey said when asked what went into deciding to run. “If he’d thrown a clunker in, I wouldn’t have run.”
Code of Honor is a rare individual who has won from six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles. One of his most impressive victories came in last summer’s Grade 3 Dwyer, a one-mile race he won by 3 1/4 lengths. Code of Honor is 3 for 4 at Belmont with a second in the Grade 1 Champagne.
“I thought his Dwyer last year was one of his best races,” McGaughey said.
John Velazquez, a five-time winner of the Met Mile, has the call from post 5.
McKinzie, trained by Bob Baffert, finished second as the favorite in last year’s Met Mile. He had traffic in the stretch that jockey Mike Smith felt cost him a chance at winning.
“Something certainly happened that made you believe there was a really good chance he certainly could have won it, and that something was Thunder Snow getting in my way twice,” Smith said.
Smith was aboard McKinzie for his victory in the Grade 2 Triple Bend on June 7 at Santa Anita, a nice rebound from a non-effort 11th-place finish in the Saudi Cup in February.
“It was the kind of race that should set him up for a really good effort,” said Smith, who won the Met Mile in 1994 on Holy Bull and in 2017 with Mor Spirit. “I’m excited about another opportunity. Hopefully, we’ll all get a good, fair chance at it and see what happens.”
Vekoma is 2 for 2 at Belmont, including a dominant 7 1/4length victory here on June 6 in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, for which he earned a careerbest 110 Beyer Speed Figure.
While trainer George Weaver said he is well aware that Vekoma could bounce off a huge effort, he said the Met Mile “is an important race to be in if we thought he was doing well and we think he’s doing well.”
Vekoma has good tactical speed and figures to be prominent early under Javier Castellano.
Endorsed nearly stole the Westchester from Code of Honor with an early inside move that saw him go from sixth to first in less than a quarter of a mile under Joel Rosario.
“The rail was wide open and he took the opportunity to come up the rail,” trainer Bill Mott said. “Maybe he went a little early, but I was fine with it.”
Endorsed, who has not yet won a stakes race, gets in with 117 pounds, an eight-pound break from McKinzie and seven from Code of Honor.
Mr Freeze is a two-time graded stakes winner at mile, having taken the Ack Ack at Churchill Downs in 2019 and the Gulfstream Park Mile in February. Most recently, he is coming off a third-place finish as the favorite in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.
Warrior’s Charge finished second after setting the pace in the Oaklawn Handicap. Prior to that, he won the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn in frontrunning fashion.
Network Effect was a wellbeaten second behind Vekoma in the Carter. As a 2-yearold, Network Effect finished second to Vekoma in the Grade 3 Nashua, a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.
Hog Creek Hustle won the Grade 1 Woody Stephens over this track last year as a 3-yearold. He figures to try and make the last run under Jose Ortiz.
The Met Mile and the Grade 3 Poker will be both shown on NBC during a one-hour broadcast from 5-6 p.m. Eastern. The entire Belmont card will be shown on FS1 and MSG+ from 1-7 p.m.