McKinzie set for another shot at Met Mile

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has ridden McKinzie in 14 of his 16 races and for all eight of his wins. The latest win occurred in Sunday’s Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes, the first time Smith was aboard McKinzie since September.

From Smith’s perspective, the tally should be nine victories.

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Last June, McKinzie finished a troubled second to Mitole in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park with Smith aboard. He raced in traffic through the final quarter-mile and was checked twice before losing by three-quarters of a length.

“He probably should have won it last year,” Smith said after McKinzie’s win Sunday. “I didn’t have the best of trips. I got shut off twice.”

Mitole, the champion sprinter of 2019, has been retired to stud. McKinzie’s next start is the $500,000 Metropolitan Mile on July 4.

In the $200,000 Triple Bend, Smith rode McKinzie with confidence, guiding the 5-year-old from last in a field of five to a contending position in the stretch. McKinzie ($3) won by 1 1/2 lengths over Fashionably Fast, who had won his last six starts, four in stakes for California-breds.

The Triple Bend was McKinzie’s first start since he finished 11th of 14 in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 in Saudi Arabia. Joel Rosario replaced Smith on McKinzie for two races last fall and winter – a second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in November and the Saudi Cup.

Smith, 54, had an outstanding weekend at Santa Anita. Saturday, he won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on Kentucky Derby hopeful Honor A. P., and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on the outstanding filly Swiss Skydiver.

“I’ve got to pinch myself,” he said.