Vekoma validates Carter with gritty Met Mile win
ELMONT, N.Y. -- As Vekoma arrived at the quarter pole with a one-length lead in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap having led every step of the way, trainer George Weaver watched as other horses attempted to make their run at his colt.
“I said, ‘I don’t know if he has any horse in the tank or not. Is this our day?” Weaver mused.
At the eighth pole, the answer became clear that it was, as Vekoma, under Javier Castellano, never stopped running and kicked on to win the 127th Met Mile by 1 1/4 lengths. Network Effect, who basically followed Vekoma around the track while in third, finished second by a neck over Code of Honor.
It was a half-length back to Warrior’s Charge, who nosed out slight 9-5 favorite McKinzie for fourth. Mr Freeze was sixth, followed by Endorsed and Hog Creek Hustle.
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Vekoma, a son of Candy Ride, added the Met Mile to a victory in last month’s Grade 1 Carter here and the listed Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream in March to make him 3 for 3 this year. Overall, he is 6 for 8 and increased his career earnings to $1,245,525 for owners Randy Hill and Mike Gatsas.
Vekoma ran a mile in 1:32.88, the fourth fastest Met Mile behind Frosted (1:32.73), Mitole (1:32.75), and Honour and Glory (1:32.81). He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, six points fewer than the career-best figure he earned for this Carter victory.
“The only blip on his resume was the [Kentucky] Derby, and it just wasn’t his day that day,” said Weaver, referring to Vekoma’s ultimate 12th-place showing. “Probably a mile and a quarter is a tad too far for him, the track was really gluey, but other than that this horse has been nothing but a freak.”
Vekoma had won the Carter in the slop from a stalking position. Castellano thought he would use those same tactics on Saturday with the speedy Warrior’s Charge in the field.
But Vekoma broke so sharply that Castellano let him get to the lead. He maintained a one-length advantage over Warrior’s Charge through a quarter in 22.73 seconds, a half-mile in 45.87, and six furlongs in 1:09.57.
“The way he did the first two quarters, I knew I was going to have something for the end,” Castellano said.
Vekoma maintained his one-length advantage through six furlongs and got his final quarter in 23.31 seconds. He returned $5.90 as the second choice.
“He broke so well out of the gate, I didn’t want to take away what came easy,” Castellano said. “I used my judgment, I dictated the pace, and I took it from there and it paid off today.”
Trainer Chad Brown said he got the trip he was looking for with Network Effect.
“I thought he got a really good trip, obviously the winner is really goo. We ran second to him in the Carter. It’s no surprise that he won and he really earned it running those punishing fractions,” Brown said. “I’m so proud of my horse running second.”
Code of Honor, last early under John Velazquez, had to go widest of all in the stretch and came with a run under John Velazquez, but had to settle for third, beaten 1 14 lengths.
“I thought maybe we had [Vekoma],” McGaughey said. “You had a horse get a trip and we had to go that wide. There wasn’t anything he could do. He was running, he didn’t want to get him stopped.”
McKinzie, who was looking to avenge his runner-up finish in this race, just ran evenly, according to jockey Mike Smith. From California, trainer Bob Baffert revealed that McKinzie lost a front shoe and a hind shoe, “but he just didn’t have it.”
Vekoma’s victory in the Met Mile earned him a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to be run on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. His prior victory in the Grade 1 Carter earned him a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint the same day.
Weaver said he would most likely wait to run Vekoma in the seven-furlong Forego at Saratoga on Aug. 29 and then decide in which Breeders’ Cup race to run.
“You think about things like championship honors. We want to put him in some kind of position to get that at the end of the year, whether it be champion older horse or champion sprinter,” Weaver said. “He hasn’t run six furlongs since his maiden race, he’s in that middle ground. We’ll be doing something thinking about that as the rest of the year goes on.”
--additional reporting by Jay Privman