Met Mile 2021 Entries & Post Positions

The Met Mile often attracts the best older horses from across the country and the 2021 edition is no different.

Six were announced at the Post Position draw on Tuesday and our editor has a quick overview of the field.

A couple of months ago the general consensus was we were heading towards a Knicks Go v Charlatan battle at the Met Mile. This would’ve been pretty epic following the hype the two of them created at the Saudi Cup - where neither horse ended up actually winning. Alas Bob Baffert’s four-year-old is out with an injury so Brad Cox’s son of Paynter is likely to be the very short-price favorite when they step into the starting gate on Saturday. His Morning Line odds are 6-5 and he'll break from the outside post.

Wins at the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and Pegasus World Cup showed that this five-year-old is right at the top of his game. Finishing fourth in that Saudi Cup race was a slight disappointment but he should bounce back now he’s back home.

Bret Colhoun will be confident his winner of the Oaklawn Mile may be the horse to challenge Knicks Go. A lackluster end to his four-year-old season may have got some bettors to overlook By My Standards but he has four Grade II wins on his resume. At 10-1 he provides the M/L value.

Mischievous Alex returns to a mile for the first time since winning the Grade III Gotham in his three-year-old season. Clearly a fast horse who has significant question marks over distance having raced at six and seven furlongs recently. Poor showings at Grade I level last year in big races at Belmont in the Woody Stephens and at Saratoga for the H. Allen Jerkins Memorial have muddied his potential but he won last time out at Grade I level with victory in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct. At 5-2 he seems a little bit too short for me but I love his raw speed.

One runner who has good memories of Belmont day is Dr Post - who surprised many by finishing runner-up in the 2020 Belmont Stakes. He followed that up with a third-place result in the Haskell and fourth-place in the Jim Dandy. The Todd Pletcher trained horse is one from one as a four-year-old having taken out the Grade III Westchester at Belmont on May 1. At 9-2 he is the fourth horse on the Morning Line.

Steve Asmussen will be sending out Hard Spun colt Silver State who has a four-game win streak including being unbeaten as a four-year-old. Victory in the Grade II Oaklawn Handicap last time out shows plenty of potential and a 7-2 price reflects that.

Five-year-old Lexitonian rounds out the field of six and is a 20-1 longshot. The Jack Sisterton trained horse has bounced around at Graded Stakes level having raced at Saratoga, Pimlico, Belmont, Kentucky Downs, Keeneland, Oaklawn Park, Del Mar and Churchill Downs. That last outing on the Derby undercard saw a good second-place finish in the Churchill Downs Stakes. A win in the 2019 Chick Lang at Pimlico is his only GS win however.

Here at HorseRacing.net we'll have comprehensive coverage of the action at Belmont Park throughout the week and on Belmont Stakes day itself. Our in-house handicapper will be handicapping the cards in-depth on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with our turf-man also providing his thoughts on all the Graded Stakes races throughout. They will also provide their thoughts on all the runners in the Belmont Stakes. So keep checking back with us all week for coverage of the Belmont Stakes and all the undercard races.

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