SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A little less than four hours before the best 3-year-olds in the country face off in the Belmont Stakes, arguably the two best older horses in training square off in the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga. Fierceness, a three-time Grade 1 winner coming off a track-record-setting performance in his 4-year-old debut last month, and the 6-year-old White Abarrio, a four-time Grade 1 winner who has been dominant in two starts this year, headline the compact field of five. Raging Torrent, Just a Touch, and Castle Chaos are not merely fillers, but they would likely need to run the race of their careers to beat the top two if either one is on their game. The winner of the Met Mile will receive a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1. Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher for Mike Repole, has long ago shed his reputation as an inconsistent runner. Once unable to string together consecutive good races, Fierceness has won three of his last four starts, and the lone defeat may arguably have been his best performance when he finished second to Sierra Leone after attending a hot pace in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar. A minor surgical procedure on a hind ankle shortly thereafter delayed Fierceness’s 4-year-old debut, but his return race was well worth the wait as he won the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on May 2 at Churchill Downs, beating, among others, stablemate Locked. His final time of 1:40.66 was a track record for 1 1/16 miles. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Pletcher was planning to run Fierceness in the Westchester at Aqueduct rather than the Alysheba, thinking a softer landing spot would set Fierceness up better for this race. “Who knows if he would have run in the Westchester, if he would have run as fast as he did in the Alysheba,” Pletcher said. “I was trying to come back and win a race and move forward for the Met Mile.” While Pletcher said Fierceness “is training as good as he ever has,” the trainer is not a fan of the race’s configuration, which begins out of the Wilson chute. Essentially, the Met Mile is now a race run around 1 1/2 turns. When run at Belmont Park, the Met Mile is a true one-turn mile. “My biggest concern is the Wilson chute,” Pletcher said. “I don’t like it. I never have. I think it’s an unfair race. We’ve had some horses run just absolutely pathetic races out of there for no reason. That’s my biggest concern that somehow that affects the race negatively, makes it a less truly run race.” Fierceness is 3 for 3 at Saratoga, his biggest win coming in last summer’s Grade 1 Travers over Thorpedo Anna and Sierra Leone. Fierceness, who carries 125 pounds on Saturday, breaks from the rail under John Velazquez. White Abarrio ran one of the worst races of his career in last year’s Met Mile, finishing fifth, beaten 10 1/4 lengths by National Treasure. After that race, White Abarrio was transferred back to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. by owner Mark Cornett. In 2023, White Abarrio won the Grade 1 Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic for trainer Rick Dutrow after being transferred from Joseph. White Abarrio has won three of his last four starts for Joseph, including dominant victories in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Grade 3 Ghostzapper, both at Gulfstream Park. Joseph trained White Abarrio from October 2021 through March 2023, including victories in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. “I think he’s better now than he’s ever been,” Joseph said. “Just hope he shows that on Saturday.” Since the Ghostzapper, White Abarrio has turned in several superlative workouts, including two over Saratoga’s main track. “You’d like to think you know, but in racing you never know, that’s why you run the races, but everything we’ve seen so far he should run his best race,” Joseph said. “Those are the signs he’s showing – how he’s breezed, how he acts, the energy. I feel like if he does run his best race he’s going to be very, very tough.” Irad Ortiz Jr. rides White Abarrio, the 126-pound highweight, from post 2. Raging Torrent, trained by Doug O’Neill, has won five of his last six starts, including the Grade 1 Malibu going seven furlongs in December and the Group 2 Godolphin Mile at Meydan in April. O’Neill said it was off the latter performance that the Met Mile came into play for Raging Torrent. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! “When they run the way he did, you’re obviously happily surprised,” O’Neill said. “He’s definitely a special colt that’s just maturing. The intriguing thing about the Met Mile, is it’s not two turns, but it’s as close as you can get to two turns without going two turns. We think it’s a great progression.” Frankie Dettori rides Raging Torrent from post 5 under 123 pounds. Just a Touch was rushed down the Triple Crown trail last year, which backfired as he finished last in the Kentucky Derby and raced just once thereafter before being put away for the year. Following a break, Just a Touch has strung together a pair of impressive allowance victories at Fair Grounds and Keeneland and now, like the two main competitors, cuts back to one mile. “We’re confident he improved at the age of 4,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He received nice figures, they’re figures that win Grade 1s, but on the other hand there are two horses in here – not taking anything away from Raging Torrent – that are extremely accomplished horses and this is a tall task. I love the way the horse is doing, he’s going to have to take another step forward to compete.” Florent Geroux rides Just a Touch, who carries 119 pounds, from post 4. Castle Chaos finished fourth in last year’s Met Mile. He was entered in an allowance race for Friday but was to scratch from that. Though he’s lost 10 straight, he was beaten a neck in the Grade 2 Carter in 2024 and finished third in the Cigar Mile in December 2023. “Shoot for the stars, aim for the moon,” trainer Robert Falcone Jr. said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.