More is on the line in the June 7 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) than the $1 million purse. The prestigious race, more commonly referred to as the Met Mile, is also known as a stallion-making race, and it regularly carries championship implications.
The theme remains the same this year. Should White Abarrio or Fierceness win Saturday's race at Saratoga Race Course, either would become the front-runner for the most coveted year-end prize, Horse of the Year, with summer and fall racing still to alter the picture and 3-year-olds still to make their bids for the award.
Despite their early 2025 accomplishments—White Abarrio won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) followed by the Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) and Fierceness took the Alysheba Stakes (G2) in track-record time on Kentucky Derby Day—the Met Mile is not a two-horse race, though only five horses were entered. All but Castle Chaos—who was hustled into the race to make it have a bit more depth—appears to have a strong chance.
Between the quintet, they have collectively won 15 stakes, including eight grade 1s, and more than $13.4 million in purses.
Fittingly, its winner will earn a paid, automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) this fall at Del Mar via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.
Two others bring top credentials into the one-mile dirt contest, which will begin out of a chute that bends with a half turn into the backstretch. Among these are Just a Touch, grade 1-placed last year at 3 and outstanding in two blowout allowance-level wins this year, and Raging Torrent, a winner of five of his last six, including the 2024 Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park and Godolphin Mile (G2) in Dubai.
Due to its intermediate distance—longer than a traditional sprint and shorter than a customary route—the Met Mile is a unique race that attracts a mix of top-class, versatile runners..
Gary Barber, C2 Racing Stable, and La Milagrosa Stable's 6-year-old White Abarrio makes his third start in the Met Mile, having run third to Horse of the Year Cody's Wish in 2023 at Belmont Park and fifth to National Treasure last year at Saratoga for then-trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. Both Cody's Wish and National Treasure were named champion older dirt male following their Met Mile victories.
As he has been since last year, White Abarrio is currently trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who also campaigned him earlier in the horse's career to win races such as the 2022 Florida Derby (G1). Dutrow trained White Abarrio to win the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
"You never know if a horse is going to come back at that age," Joseph said. "But for him to come back and show his brilliance—he's just as fast on the (speed) figures, or even faster on the (performance figures)—it just shows the kind of class horse he is."
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides high-weighted White Abarrio, a son of Race Day who carries 126 pounds under the handicap conditions.
Fierceness, under five-time Met Mile winner John Velazquez, is right behind at 125 pounds, followed by Raging Torrent (123), Just a Touch (119), and Castle Chaos (116).
Fierceness, bred by Mike Repole's Repole Stable and co-owned by Repole with the Coolmore partnership of Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor, and Susan Magnier, brings a 3-for-3 record at Saratoga into the Met Mile. He won a maiden race as a 2-year-old at Saratoga and last year took the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) and Travers Stakes (G1) locally.
The champion 2-year-old male of 2023 and runner-up to Sierra Leone for the 3-year-old male title last year, Fierceness starts for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who previously won the Met Mile with Palace Malice (2014) and Quality Road (2010).
Most recently, the 4-year-old son of City of Light zipped 1 1/16 miles on a fast main track at Churchill Downs to win the Alysheba Stakes in 1:40.66, coming in his first start since a second in the Breeders' Cup Classic last fall.
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"It was remarkable. You generally don't see track record-setting performances with a slow early pace. That's what made it so impressive. To go a half in :48 and set a track record is a pretty significant achievement, especially at a historical place like Churchill," Pletcher said.
Yuesheng Zhang and Craig Dado's Raging Torrent and Qatar Racing, Resolute Racing, and Marc Detampel's Just a Touch are riding two-race win streaks and have the speed to be prominent from the break.
The Met Mile is the eighth race on Belmont Stakes day with post time at 3:17 p.m. ET. FOX will televise the Belmont and other races beginning at 2:30 p.m. after FS1's initial coverage earlier in the day.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, June 7, 2025, Race 8Entries: Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Fierceness (KY) John R. Velazquez 125 Todd A. Pletcher 1/1 2 2White Abarrio (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 9/5 3 3Castle Chaos (KY) Flavien Prat 116 Robert N. Falcone, Jr. 20/1 4 4Just a Touch (KY) Florent Geroux 119 Brad H. Cox 4/1 5 5Raging Torrent (KY) Lanfranco Dettori 123 Doug F. O'Neill 5/1
