Met Mile winners Ghostzapper, Quality Road have presence

The Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap has a history of being a stallion-making race because it showcases the brilliance that is so desired in the American market. Solid sires have continued to emerge from the race in recent years – including Ghostzapper and Quality Road, who are positioned to showcase themselves on Belmont’s major week of racing.

Ghostzapper rolled by 6 1/4 lengths in the 2005 Met Mile, which turned out to be his career finale. The previous year’s Horse of the Year, he won the Met Mile in 1:33.29 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 122. Now standing at owner-breeder Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs in Kentucky, Ghostzapper is likely to be represented in this year’s Metropolitan on Saturday by McCraken, who won his 4-year-old debut in a Churchill Downs optional-claiming event. He will also have another Grade 1 starter on the blockbuster card in Proctor's Ledge in the Just a Game. On Friday, Ghostzapper’s Canadian champion daughter Holy Helena is expected to start in the Grade 2 New York Stakes.

Ghostzapper is also beginning to emerge as a broodmare sire, with his most notable runner in that category Triple Crown hopeful Justify. Justify is out of Ghostzapper’s Grade 3-placed daughter Stage Magic. Ghostzapper is also the broodmare sire of multiple Grade 1 winner American Gal, entered in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses Invitational on Friday.

Quality Road won the 2010 Met Mile by 1 1/2 lengths, zipping the distance in 1:33.11 for a Beyer of 112. The Lane’s End stallion had a breakout year with two Eclipse Award champions in 2017, and both are expected to be in action on the Belmont Stakes undercard Saturday. Kentucky Oaks winner Abel Tasman is expected for the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, while Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Caledonia Road is making a comeback in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes.

The Met Mile has been won through its century-plus history by prominent stallions such as Tom Fool (1953), Native Dancer (1954), Buckpasser (1967), Tentam (1973), Cox’s Ridge (1978), Fappiano (1981), and Gulch (1987-88).

This year’s Met Mile field is expected to include multiple Grade 1 winners Bolt d’Oro, whose stallion rights already belong to Spendthrift Farm, and Mind Your Biscuits, who will stand in Japan upon the conclusion of his racing career.

Bolt d’Oro’s owner and trainer Mick Ruis said, “We think this race is good because he’ll make a really good stallion and people on the East Coast really like to see if they have speed and stamina, so I thought it was a good spot for him.”

Others targeting the race include Awesome Slew, Bee Jersey, Discreet Lover, Good Samaritan, One Liner, Ransom the Moon, and Warrior’s Club.