City of Light targeting Met Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – City of Light, the winner of the Triple Bend for older sprinters on Saturday, has the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day as his long-term goal, trainer Michael McCarthy said Sunday morning.

McCarthy said the Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day might be used as a prep for the Met Mile.

"The horse came out of the race in good order, ate up," McCarthy said. "We'll let him get his feet underneath him. After skipping the race in Arkansas, I was glad he didn't boil over."

City of Light, the winner of the Malibu Stakes on opening day, was going to head to Arkansas for a two-turn race last month but was kept here owing to the unsettled weather forecast in Arkansas. Despite the delay, he continued to train as well as any horse on the grounds here and ran to that training on Saturday.

With the win, City of Light became the first two-time Grade 1 winner of the meet.

‘No explanation’ for World Approval’s loss

Trainer Mark Casse said that male turf champ World Approval was fine on Sunday morning following his disappointing effort in the Kilroe Mile, his first trip west since winning the Breeders' Cup Mile last fall at Del Mar.

Casse said he had "no explanation" for World Approval's dull effort.

"He was never in it from the start," Casse said. "The good news is he's okay. He usually breaks well, but he didn’t even do that. He’s usually in the race early. I don’t know. I don’t know."

Casse said World Approval was scheduled to return to Florida on Wednesday. He said he still was "looking at" the Maker's 46 Mile at Keeneland next month but wanted to look the horse over and see how he trains before making any decisions.

"We'll see how things go," he said.