SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Rick Dutrow hopes White Abarrio enjoys a happy homecoming Saturday when he meets National Treasure and four others in the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga. Coming off a disappointing 10th-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup in February, White Abarrio returns to Saratoga, where last summer he ran arguably the best race of his career winning the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths in a race that featured 2023 Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish. It was Cody’s Wish who won the Met Mile at Belmont last year, a race in which White Abarrio finished third in what was his first start for Dutrow. Due to the renovation project being done at Belmont Park, the Met Mile is one of 23 stakes that have been relocated to Saratoga for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. The Met Mile starts out of the Wilson Chute, which means the horses run straight for about 70 yards before joining up with the main track on the middle of the clubhouse bend, then turn up the backside. Traditionally, when run at Belmont, one-mile races have a half-mile straightaway before horses go around the far turn. :: DRF's Belmont Stakes Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more “He likes Saratoga,” Dutrow said of White Abarrio. “This is why we pointed him to the Met Mile and the Whitney. We would be fools not to.” White Abarrio’s victory in the 2023 Whitney came after he finished third in the Met Mile at Belmont two months earlier. White Abarrio stumbled at the break and had a start-and-stop trip. He was beaten a head by Zandon for second. “His Met Mile last year was extremely” creditable, Dutrow said. “If he had everything go perfect that day, he probably would have been second.” After winning the Whitney, White Abarrio won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Santa Anita. Waiting three months for the Saudi Cup was always Dutrow’s objective and though he raved about how well the horse was doing leading into the race, Dutrow could not come up with a plausible excuse why he failed to fire that night. Dutrow and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. both said it took about a month for White Abarrio to rebound from the trip back home, but they have loved his last few workouts leading up to this race. White Abarrio, who is the 126-pound highweight, breaks from the outside post in this field of six. “I don’t have any concerns at all because our horse is doing really, really good,” Dutrow said. “Irad can get him around there the right way. He can deal with the race scenario stuff. He’s very good at it and so is the horse. He’s very handy, very adaptable; we’re not worried about anything. I’m sure he’s going to be breathing fire. I’m sure he didn’t like his last effort – I’m talking about the horse – so he’s going to be ready.” National Treasure, trained by Bob Baffert, won last year’s Preakness Stakes and was beaten a nose by Cody’s Wish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. He won the Pegasus World Cup by a neck over Senor Buscador, who came back to win the Saudi Cup, where National Treasure finished fourth. National Treasure chased a solid pace in the Saudi Cup and was only beaten 1 1/2 lengths. “He didn’t bring his ‘A’ game,” Baffert said. “Long ship, he was coming off that big win – it might have been a little bit too soon for him.” Baffert said the way National Treasure has trained in Southern California since returning from Saudi Arabia is the reason he shipped him for the Met Mile. Last year, National Treasure came for the Travers, where he finished fifth behind Arcangelo. “I wouldn’t count the Travers,” Baffert said. “This horse is doing really well. When he’s doing well, he runs well. When he shows up, he’s tough.” Flavien Prat rides National Treasure from post 2. When National Treasure won the Preakness, he beat Blazing Sevens by a head. Blazing Sevens finished third in the Curlin Stakes in July and then went to the sidelines because trainer Chad Brown was not pleased with how the horse was moving. Blazing Sevens returned off a nine-month layoff to win a second-level allowance at Aqueduct, earning a 97 Beyer Speed Figure :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save up to 52% on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more “I’m pleasantly surprised how well he came back this year,” Brown said. “It’s going to be a tough race, but he’s doing as good as he was going into the Preakness.” Post Time, a winner of 8 of 10 career starts, including the Grade 2 Carter at Aqueduct, is in from Maryland for Brittany Russell. Post Time most recently finished second to Messier in the Grade 3 Westchester, a race in which jockey Sheldon Russell, the trainer’s husband, may have left the horse too much to do. “I think we learned something in the sense Sheldon’s going to have to use him, he’s going to have to get him running sooner,” Russell said. “The horse ran great, so were not disappointed in that effort. It was sad not to get the race won, but it’s all good. We’ll be ready for it this time.” Post Time is a son of Frosted, who won the 2016 Met Mile by 14 1/4 lengths. While this is the toughest field Post Time has faced to date, Brittany Russell feels her horse is prepared. “You have good horses in the race, but those horses have done some traveling and I feel like we’re a little more seasoned now,” Russell said. “He’s doing good and he hasn’t missed a beat. We feel good about it.” Hoist the Gold, like White Abarrio and National Treasure, ran in the Saudi Cup. Hoist the Gold finished last of 14. “It was really hot. I think he reacted from the heat. He was really dull, very quiet in the paddock, not himself, and that’s the only thing I can lay it on,” trainer Dallas Stewart said. Hoist the Gold came back to run fifth in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes, 5 1/2 lengths behind Gun Pilot. “I’m glad we got that race in him,” Stewart said. Castle Chaos figures the longest shot on the board in the Met Mile. He was beaten a neck by Post Time in the Grade 2 Carter and a nose by Tumbarumba in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper, his last two runs on fast tracks. The Met Mile, which awards a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile this November at Del Mar, goes as race 10 on the 14-race program. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.