McKinzie taking a second shot at Met Mile

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bob Baffert tries not to think about last year’s Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap, where McKinzie encountered traffic trouble in the stretch and had to settle for second to Mitole.

“Last year, it was worth $1.2 million, so that’s the part that stung the worst,” Baffert said. “But we don’t worry about that, that’s old news. That’s over with.”

Saturday, McKinzie will get a chance to get his Met Mile victory when he starts from post 3 as the 125-pound highweight in a field of eight entered Wednesday. The purse of the Met Mile is $500,000 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down racing on this circuit for 80 days.

:: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more.

Should he win, McKinzie would become that rare individual to win Grade 1 races at ages 2, 3, 4, and 5. McKinzie won the Los Alamitos Futurity at 2, the Pennsylvania Derby at 3, and the Whitney last year.

McKinzie, who will be ridden by Mike Smith, will face a strong field that includes Code of Honor, last year’s Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner who drew post 5, and Vekoma, who is coming off a smashing performance in the Grade 1 Carter here four weeks ago. Vekoma, trained by George Weaver, drew post 2.

Network Effect, second to Vekoma, drew the rail while outside of McKinzie are, in order, Hog Creek Hustle, Code of Honor, Endorsed, Mr Freeze, and Warrior’s Charge.

The Met Mile, which offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, will go as race 9 on an 11-race card.