ELMONT, N.Y. – Silver State continued his ascension in the older male dirt division, and that enabled trainer Steve Asmussen to continue his recent mastery of the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. Silver State ran his winning streak to six, rallying along the inside under Ricardo Santana Jr. to outfinish a wide-rallying By My Standards and win the Met Mile by one length. By My Standards finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Mischevious Alex in third. Knicks Go, the pacesetting 4-5 favorite, faded to fourth followed by Dr. Post and Lexitonian. It was the third win in the Met Mile for Asmussen and Santana in the last four years. Bee Jersey won it in 2018, and Mitole won it in 2019. :: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Park Clocker Report “It’s a great race to have that kind of streak in,” Asmussen said. “Very proud of Silver State, the whole team, the trip Ricardo gave him, the faith he has in the horse. The Met Mile is an extremely significant win, and one of the great races in American racing.” Silver State, a son of Hard Spun owned by Ron Winchell and Willis Horton, began his win streak in an allowance race on Oct. 22 at Keeneland. He won another allowance at Churchill in November before reeling off three consecutive stakes victories at Oaklawn Park, capped by a half-length score in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. This is his first Grade 1 victory. The Oaklawn Handicap was at 1 1/8 miles. The Met Mile was a one-turn race where it looked like Knicks Go, a multiple Grade 1 winner, was the lone speed. Knicks Go, under Joel Rosario, broke inward and bumped with By My Standards, under Gabe Saez. Santana broke sharp and was second for the first sixteenth before being joined and passed by Mischevious Alex and Lexitonian. Santana kept Silver State within two lengths of the lead while Knicks Go ran a quarter in 23.36 seconds and a half-mile in 46.31 with Mischevious Alex prompting him. :: DRF Bets players get FREE Daily Racing Form Past Performances and up to 5% weekly cashback. Join Now.  Coming to the top of the lane, Knicks Go began to float Mischevious Alex wide. That left a gaping hole for Silver State. Santana waited before asking him but when he did, Silver State responded, opening up some daylight from Mischevious Alex. Meanwhile, By My Standards was closing but drifting out under Saez’s left-handed whip. Silver State covered the mile in 1:35.45, earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, and returned $13.40. “He’s a horse that waits for you to give the okay to go,” Santana said. “You could see I was still a half-length behind the speed. The rail was way too open and I was just being patient because the stretch of Belmont is really long. I think I moved at the right time.” The win earned Silver State a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to be run in November at Del Mar. Bret Calhoun, the trainer of By My Standards, believed the bump at the start with Knicks Go and the ground loss cost his horse a chance to win his first Grade 1. “He got shuffled back a little bit, but I thought he ran a super race,” Calhoun said. “Obviously, we got beat [a length], obvious a difference maker.” Jose Ortiz, subbing for his brother Irad on Mischevious Alex, said when Joel Rosario floated him wide, it forced him to “move sooner than I wanted to keep my position. I tried to push him in, but he left the lane open three or four lanes and Ricky was there and he took advantage of it.”