The favorites in the June 6 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) have the prestigious $1 million race surrounded.
Nysos, last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner and the 9-5 morning-line favorite, starts from the rail in the seven-horse field, while 5-2 second choice Journalism, last year's Preakness Stakes (G1) winner, breaks from the far outside in the race that begins from Saratoga Race Course's Wilson Chute. Mile races there begin with a short straightaway before a half-turn leading into the backstretch.
The inside draw allows Nysos to save ground, though it may force jockey Flavien Prat to utilize the colt's natural speed.
Between the two favorites are five quality runners: the up-and-coming Vibe, grade 1 winner Antiquarian, $3 million earner Saudi Crown, the once-beaten Rated by Merit, and three-time grade 3 winner Knightsbridge.
All of their connections are eager to take a shot in the Metropolitan Handicap, a race more commonly known as the Met Mile, for both its purse and prestige. The winner typically emerges as a stallion prospect or enhances an already attractive stallion résumé.
For Nysos, the distance plays to his strengths. In addition to his victory in last fall's BC Dirt Mile at Del Mar, he captured the 2024 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at a mile as a 3-year-old at Santa Anita Park. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has kept him racing between 7 furlongs and 1 1/8 miles in all of his stakes appearances.
At that 1 1/8-mile distance, Nysos gave Japanese star Forever Young a challenge in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) in his most recent start Feb. 14, only to settle for second, beaten a length, when Forever Young cut the corner and got the jump on him exiting the race's lone turn.
That defeat was just the second of his nine-start career, with a comeback dead-heat runner-up finish in the 2025 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) accounting for his only other loss. The 5-year-old son of Nyquist , whose $4.7 million in earnings tops the field, has trained sharply since returning to the United States following his winter trip to Saudi Arabia.
"We know he's a really good horse," said Baffert, a two-time winner of this race. "We're in it for the excitement and fun, and to be part of a great weekend. If you can do it, it's an honor to win the Met Mile."
Journalism has not raced as short as a mile since November 2024 during his 2-year-old season, largely because more rewarding opportunities loomed elsewhere. Last year, he captured three grade 1 events for 3-year-olds at distances of 1 1/8 miles or longer. Sandwiched around his victory in the Preakness, he finished behind Sovereignty when runner-up in both the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs and Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, each contested at 1 1/4 miles. He then won the Haskell Stakes (G1) last summer.
Since taking on older rivals, he has finished second in the Pacific Classic (G1), fourth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), and third in the April 18 Oaklawn Handicap (G2), his lone start of 2026. The Pacific Classic and Breeders' Cup Classic were contested at 1 1/4 miles, while the Oaklawn Handicap was run at 1 1/8 miles.
Under Jose Ortiz, he pressed reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty in the latter race before they were worn down late by White Abarrio, who was adeptly placed behind the sparring up front.
Video: Oaklawn H. (G2)
Trainer Michael McCarthy shipped Journalism to Saratoga in late May and gave the 4-year-old Curlin colt a workout over the local surface in preparation for the Metropolitan Handicap.
"It is interesting to cut back to one mile. This is a race we've had on our radar for quite some time," McCarthy said. "This is a stallion-making race; he's already made himself a stallion, but this would certainly add to his résumé."
He races for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, and the Coolmore-affiliated partners of Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.
Coolmore also holds an interest in Nysos. Both horses are scheduled to begin stallion careers next year at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
Godolphin's 5-year-old Knightsbridge is also a son of Nyquist in the Metropolitan Handicap. The top miler in Florida this winter, he failed to carry that form to Churchill Downs, where he faded to sixth as the favorite in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day. He has yet to race at Saratoga, trainer Bill Mott's primary base from spring through fall.
The only other horses listed at less than 10-1 on the Met Mile morning line are Centennial Farms' Antiquarian (6-1) and Saudi Crown (8-1), both of whom enter off one-turn victories against lesser stakes competition.
The Met Mile is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, providing the victor with a paid, automatic berth into the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland.
It is the 11th race on the Belmont Stakes undercard with a scheduled post time of 5:32 p.m. ET.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, June 6, 2026, Race 11Entries: Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Nysos (KY) Flavien Prat 126 Bob Baffert 9/5 2 2Vibe (KY) Luis Saez 118 Todd A. Pletcher 15/1 3 3Antiquarian (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Todd A. Pletcher 6/1 4 4Saudi Crown (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 Brad H. Cox 8/1 5 5Rated by Merit (FL) Dylan Davis 119 Chad C. Brown 10/1 6 6Knightsbridge (KY) Junior Alvarado 121 William I. Mott 7/2 7 7Journalism (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 125 Michael W. McCarthy 5/2
