Met Mile

A talented and deep field of eight will line up for Saturday's highly anticipated 127th renewal of the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park. An unlucky second behind the mighty Mitole (Eskendereya) in last year's contest, 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) figures to vie for favoritism. He was first or second in all seven of his starts in 2019, led by a win in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The four-time Grade I winner made up for a dismal...

We are increasingly familiar with the kind of traction even the most brazen untruth can achieve in the era of social media. I guess people either no longer believe in hell, or they've decided they're headed there anyway. But let's not kid ourselves that we were ever especially diligent in authenticating what we read in the Good Old Days of hot-metal print. How apt, for instance, that a highly pertinent observation long credited to Mark Twain--that "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting...

The New York Racing Association will team with Delaware Park to host a Cross Country Pick 5 encompassing all graded stakes July 4. The wager will feature the GIII Delaware Oaks, GIII Kent S., the GI Runhappy Met Mile, the GI Manhattan S. and the GII Suburban H. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool....

Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}), an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 3-year-old male in 2019, is targeting the GIII Westchester S. for his return on opening weekend at Belmont Park June 6. The dominating GI Runhappy Travers S. hero has post five workouts at Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey's Payson Park base in Florida this spring dating back to mid-April. He is currently in training with McGaughey at Belmont Park. "He went five-eighths in 1:01 and change the other day [at Payson May 17]," McGaughey said. "He was a...

Belmont will reopen June 3 for a 25-day meet with a stakes schedule that includes a number of purse cuts and the cancellation of several stakes traditionally run in the spring at the NYRA tracks. Spectators will not be allowed to attend the races throughout the spring season at Belmont. Following the opening week, racing will be held Thursdays through Sundays with closing day scheduled for July 12. "The resumption of live racing at Belmont Park June 3, with all appropriate health and safety protocols in place, will support the...

Twenty-five years is a long time to spend in a job. Especially one in the world of training Thoroughbreds, which necessitates frequent travel, untold hours of overtime, waking up before the sun and physically toiling away at the daily work of controlling and redirecting the energy of half-ton animals. But when you get to spend that quarter-century under the tutelage of a Hall of Fame trainer, the time becomes an asset. And now, with a life's worth of experience accrued working under Shug McGaughey, former assistant Robby Medina has made...

5th-Gulfstream, $44,000, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($35,000), 3-1, 4yo/up, 6f, 1:09.25, ft. HIDDEN SCROLL (c, 4, Hard Spun--Sheba Queen, by Empire Maker), named a 'TDN Rising Star' after a 14-length debut romp in the slop last January that earned him a gaudy 104 Beyer Speed Figure, finally put it all together again Sunday to stamp himself as one to watch in 2020. The Juddmonte homebred set a much-too-fast pace before fading to fourth at 6-5 behind Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) in the GII Xpressbet Fountain of Youth S. 12...

The first foal for Darby Dan stallion Bee Jersey (Jersey Town--Bees, by Rahy) is a filly out of Ice Tales (Tale of Ekati) foaled Jan. 31 at Clearbrook Farm in Paris, KY. She was bred by Charles Fipke, who raced both the sire and dam. "She's a beautiful, long-legged filly," said Clearbrook Farm's Bill Anderson. "She's well-balanced and we're very happy with her." Bee Jersey began his career under the tutelage of Doug Watson in Dubai, where he was second to future dual G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow...

Saturday's GI Whitney S. lost some of its appeal when two-time G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) was scratched sick, depriving fans of a battle with 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita the first weekend in November. Though that clash is on hold for the next eight weeks, McKinzie upheld his end of the bargain, getting a thinking-man's ride from Hall of Famer Mike Smith before holding off a late...

GI Metropolitan H. winner Honor Code (A.P. Indy) returned from Saturday's victory in fine form, according to conditioner Shug McGaughey. "He seemed to come back really good," McGaughey said. "He's a very, very good horse. He got some pace and Javier let him settle, and when he asked him he really finished the last part of it. He had been training really well around here and I thought they would know he was in there, but I didn't know he would dominate the way he did."