Without Connect, Met Mile becomes 12-horse scramble

ELMONT, N.Y. – Owner Paul Pompa Jr. lost the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, but he still can win the race. The same thing goes for trainer Chad Brown. The only problem for these horsemen is that they can no longer win it together.

Connect, owned by Pompa and trained by Brown, would have been favored in the Met Mile, but he sustained a suspensory injury that likely will end his career. His defection has left the race a wide-open affair with a 12-horse field in which finding the winner – or a throw-out – is difficult.

Pompa will have two runners in the race in Rally Cry and Tommy Macho, both trained by Todd Pletcher. Brown sends out Economic Model, owned by Seth Klarman and William Lawrence. None likely will be favored, but all three are dangerous.

Rally Cry won a second-level allowance in which he ran down a loose-on-the-lead Diversify without ever being hit by the whip. Last year on Belmont Day, Rally Cry finished third to Economic Model in the Easy Goer Stakes but was sidelined thereafter due to a sore cannon bone.

“He’s done some stuff in the mornings and now in the afternoons to indicate that he hopefully is getting to that level we thought he was capable of,” Pletcher said.

Tommy Macho comes off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct, where he was shut off in midstretch by first- and second-place finishers Green Gratto and Unified.

“It looked like he had enough horse and got stopped cold at a key point in the race and was a little unlucky,” Pletcher said.

After winning the Easy Goer here last year, Economic Model finished second in the Grade 3 Dwyer and then was second to Drefong in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga. He ended his 3-year-old campaign with a couple of disappointing efforts before getting a break. In his 4-year-old debut, he finished third to front-running Dolphus in an Aqueduct allowance.

“He was probably a work short,” Brown said. “The conditions came up right, and I wanted to get a race in him.”

Mor Spirit, the winner of the Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile, and Sharp Azteca, the winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap, likely will vie for favoritism in the Met Mile. Tom’s Ready, the winner of the Grade 2 Woody Stephens here last year; Awesome Slew, the winner of the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland; and Inside Straight, the winner of the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, are other major players.

The Met Mile is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar in November.

:: Crush the Belmont Stakes with PPs, Clocker Reports, and more!

Metropolitan Handicap, Race 9

KEY CONTENDERS

Rally Cry, by Uncle Mo

Last 3 Beyers: 106-99-98

◗ Is 2 for 3 at Belmont, with the one loss a third in the Easy Goer Stakes, a race from which he emerged with sore cannon bones and thus was sidelined for the remainder of the year.

◗ Gets in light at 114 pounds, getting eight from Sharp Azteca and six from Mor Spirit.

◗ Had a solid workout over the training track last Saturday.

Tommy Macho, by Macho Uno

Last 3 Beyers: 95-93-105

◗ His dominant victory in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope in January came against Bird Song, who came back to win the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs.

◗ Was making a run along the rail in the Grade 1 Carter before getting shut off in midstretch.

Tom’s Ready, by More Than Ready

Last 3 Beyers: 99-93-91

◗ Came off a long layoff with a solid third-place finish over a wet track in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs, a race from which the winner, Limousine Liberal, came back to win another stakes.

◗ Rallied from last to first in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens here on Belmont Day last year.

◗ Picks up Javier Castellano.

Sharp Azteca, by Freud

Last 3 Beyers: NA-106-106

◗ Finished third in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile at Meydan when he raced off Lasix, medication he gets on Saturday.

◗ Had won two of his previous three starts in front-running fashion, including the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap over Awesome Slew.

◗ Gets a rider change to Paco Lopez.

Awesome Slew, by Awesome Again

Last 3 Beyers: 101-102-98

◗ Has a win and two seconds from three starts for trainer Mark Casse.

◗ Tried to rally from well off the pace and weaved through traffic when second to Limousine Liberal in the Churchill Downs Stakes.

◗ Is drawn outside in a 12-horse field but did win the Grade 3 Commonwealth when drawn widest of all.

Economic Model, by Flatter

Last 3 Beyers: 97-86-95

◗ Won the Easy Goer Stakes over this track last year.

◗ Trainer Chad Brown takes blinkers off.

“I thought he worked better with them off, change things up a bit,” Brown said. “It’s a really tough race, but he’s training like he’s going to take another step forward.”