Grade 1 race | |
Location | Belmont Park Elmont, New York, USA |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1891 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Website | Metropolitan (NYRA) [1] |
Race information | |
Distance | 1 mile (8 furlongs) |
Surface | Dirt |
Track | left-handed |
Qualification | Three-year-olds & up |
Weight | Handicap |
Purse | $1,000,000 (2024) |
The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs). Starting in 2014, it is now run on the same day as the Belmont Stakes in early June.
The Met Mile is one of the most prestigious American races outside of the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup. It is known as a "stallion-making race" as the distance of a mile often displays the winner's "brilliance", referring to an exceptional turn of foot. Winners of the race who went on to become notable stallions include Tom Fool (1953), Native Dancer (1954), Buckpasser (1967), Fappiano (1981), Gulch (1987–88), and Ghostzapper (2005). [2]
The Met Mile was first run in 1891 at Morris Park Racetrack. Prior to 1897, it was run at a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles. In 1904, its location was moved to Belmont Park. There it remained except for nine years; 1960 to 1967, 1969, and 1975 when it was hosted by Aqueduct Racetrack. It was not run in 1895, 1911, and 1912.
The Met Mile was the first of three races in the New York Handicap Triple series, followed by the Suburban Handicap and Brooklyn Handicap. Four horses have won the Handicap Triple:
The Met Mile and the Brooklyn are now run on the same day as part of the Belmont Stakes undercard, [3] so it is no longer possible to complete the Handicap Triple.
Time record:
Largest Margin
Most wins by an owner
Most wins by a jockey
Most wins by a trainer
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of 1+1⁄2 miles. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, The Test of Champions and The Run for the Carnations, is the traditional third and final leg of the Triple Crown. It is usually held on the first or second Saturday in June, five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the track record of 2:24.
The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1+1⁄8 miles (1,800 m) at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year. The winner gets $750,000 of the $1,250,000 purse, and a large garland blanket of lilies, resulting in the nickname "Lillies for the Fillies." A silver Kentucky Oaks Trophy is presented to the winner.
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown. It was opened on May 4, 1905, and is one of the best well known racetracks in the United States.
Ghostzapper is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2004, outdistancing Roses in May by three lengths in a track record time of 1:59.02. His gate-to-wire Classic victory completed a 4-for-4 season, which earned him the 2004 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. He was also ranked "World's Top Ranked Horse" for 2004 as compiled by the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings.
The Whitney Stakes is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses four years of age and older run at a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles. The current purse is $1,000,000.
The Carter Handicap is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of seven furlongs run annually in early April at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Suburban Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is now run at the 1+1⁄4 mile distance on dirt for a $350,000 purse.
The Brooklyn Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to four-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt. It was a Grade 1 race prior to 1993.
The New York Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged four-years-old and older run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the turf scheduled annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The current purse is $600,000.
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year. Although his three-year-old campaign was restricted by injury, Deputy Minister rebounded at age four with several major wins.
Whisk Broom II (1907–1928) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who raced in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Whisk Broom showed high class form during four seasons of racing in Europe, but produced his best performances when returning to America in 1913. He claimed the New York Handicap Triple by winning the Metropolitan Handicap, the Brooklyn Handicap, and the Suburban Handicap, a feat unmatched until Tom Fool achieved it forty years later. Kelso in 1961 and Fit To Fight in 1984 later joined them as the only other horses to win the Handicap Triple. Whisk Broom II's career was ended by injury after his triple success, but he went on to become a successful breeding stallion.
The Handicap Triple Crown or New York Handicap Triple are the names used to refer to three American handicap races for older Thoroughbred racehorses run by the New York Racing Association at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The three races are :
Omar Khayyam (1914–1938) was a British-born Thoroughbred racehorse who was sold as a yearling to an American racing partnership and who became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He was named for the famous Persian mathematician, poet, and astronomer, Omar Khayyam.
Fisherman was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Porterhouse (1951–1971) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
The Wilson Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1930 through 1958. Inaugurated as the Wilson Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, it was named in honor of the late Richard Thornton Wilson Jr., a prominent Thoroughbred owner and president of Saratoga Race Course.
Joe Daniels (1869–1896) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion who won the sixth Belmont Stakes in 1872. Bred in Kentucky, Joe Daniels won two stakes races as a two-year-old and then the Belmont as a three-year-old when he also won a number of other stakes races, and some match races in California. As a four-year-old, he won one further stakes race before retiring with a record of 29 starts for 16 wins. He sired two stakes-winning horses during his breeding career.
Tom Fool was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1953 American Horse of the Year and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He sired the champion racehorses Buckpasser and Tim Tam.
Frosted is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2016, he set a stakes record while winning the Metropolitan Handicap in a "dazzling performance" and followed up with a win in the Whitney Handicap. Prior to that, despite winning several stakes races, he was best known for finishing behind American Pharoah four times, including a runner-up performance in the 2015 Belmont Stakes.
Shaman Ghost is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2015 Queen's Plate and was named Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. In 2016, he won two graded stakes races in the United States, including the prestigious Woodward Stakes. He started 2017 with a runner-up performance in the world's richest horse race, the Pegasus World Cup, followed up by wins in the Santa Anita Handicap and Pimlico Special. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2018.