Craig Dado, who heads the Southern California-based Great Friends Stable, descended the grandstand steps of Saratoga Race Course in near disbelief after watching Raging Torrent, a horse Great Friends co-owns with Yuesheng Zhang, defeat some of the world's best horses in the June 7 Metropolitan Handicap (G1).
"We're just a (modest) stable from Del Mar. What the hell are we doing here?" he said, noting that 15 members of his partnership made the trip to New York from California.
Watching with pride as their horse won the $970,000, stallion-propelling Met Mile, that's what.
Under a front-running ride from Frankie Dettori, Raging Torrent defeated older division heavyweights Fierceness and White Abarrio.
Trained by Doug O'Neill, Raging Torrent delivered his third consecutive black-type win for Zhang of Yulong Investments and Great Friends Stable. The 4-year-old son of third-crop sire Maximus Mischief was exiting a victory in Meydan Racecourse's Godolphin Mile (G2) in April, which followed a victory in the Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park late last year. All three of his most recent wins have come with Dettori aboard.
Though those victories were significant, the caliber of the opposition was not on the same level as what he faced in the Met Mile. Fierceness and White Abarrio are two of the leaders in the older dirt male division and early candidates in pursuit of Horse of the Year, the most coveted award in North American racing.
Neither could keep up with Raging Torrent over a sealed, sloppy surface. With Raging Torrent outbreaking his four rivals, he set a relatively easy opening quarter in :23.92 out of the half-turn Wilson Chute at Saratoga. Though pressure picked up thereafter, with Fierceness pressuring him into splits of :46.86 and 1:10.36, Raging Torrent proved strongest late. He shrugged off Fierceness midstretch and drew away, clocking a mile in 1:35.89. He paid $18 to win.
"(Winning the Met Mile) is something that I never dreamt of just because it seems so far-fetched, but a horse like Raging Torrent is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of horse," O'Neill said. "He's got speed. He's got stamina. He's got class. He has no problem shipping, and it's just a wonderful feeling."
Heavily favored Fierceness, who headed Raging Torrent turning for home under John Velazquez, settled for second 2 1/2 lengths back while Just a Touch completed the trifecta another 2 1/4 lengths back. White Abarrio was fourth, and 30-1 longshot Castle Chaos ran last of the five starters.
"I knew I'd get to the bend first, then it was to manage his speed as much as I could," Dettori said. "I had Johnny wise to take me on at the three-eighths (pole), but at the quarter pole, I was in the lap of the gods. He showed great determination to get to the line.
"The horse is maturing. Doug has realized to space his races out and (Raging Torrent) has this amazing will to win. He puts his head down, even when Johnny pressured me, he fought really hard.
"What a horse he's been for me—Malibu, Dubai, here. ... We took on the best of the best and became triumphant."
Fierceness and White Abarrio did not break as smoothly as the winner. Fierceness returned to be unsaddled with a bloody mouth after hitting the gate at the start, according to trainer Todd Pletcher. He also exchanged bumps with White Abarrio in the opening sixteenth of a mile before recovering to pressure the pace.
Pletcher also suggested Fierceness might have regressed somewhat after a track-record-setting performance in the May 2 Alysheba Stakes (G2) in his season debut at Churchill Downs.
"They can give you every indication that they're sitting on another good one, but sometimes it just takes a little more time to recover," he noted. "It certainly wasn't the effort we were hoping for, but it wasn't a bad effort, either."
He indicated the Aug. 2 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga would likely be next for his 4-year-old, the champion 2-year-old male of 2023 and second to Sierra Leone in voting last year for the 3-year-old male championship.
Defeated in the Met Mile for the third time was 6-year-old White Abarrio, who finished fifth in this race last year when it was held at Saratoga and third a year earlier when it was staged at its regular home at Belmont Park. Belmont Park is under renovation.
White Abarrio bounced back from those defeats, notably winning the 2023 Whitney and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). This winter, he won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
White Abarrio carried high weight of 126 pounds in the Met Mile, more than Fierceness (125), Raging Torrent (123), Just a Touch (119), and Castle Chaos (118).
In capturing the Met Mile, Raging Torrent earned 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. Raging Torrent ran seventh in the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) last year at Del Mar after starting from the rail.
O'Neill said his horse would return to his base in Southern California, suggesting he might map out one start for Raging Torrent between now and the Breeders' Cup.
The last three Met Mile winners earned championships for their accomplishments during the year of their Met Mile triumphs. Flightline (2022) and Cody's Wish (2023) both earned dual awards as champion older dirt male and Horse of the Year, and National Treasure (2024) claimed the Eclipse Award as older dirt male last year.
Great Friends Stable originally became a partner in the midst of the colt's 2-year-old racing season with owner Mark Davis, who acquired the colt for $75,000 from the 2023 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training from the Randy Bradshaw consignment. Davis sold his remaining stake in Raging Torrent to Zhang after Raging Torrent won the Malibu.
Rodney Winkler and Alfonso Mazzetti bred Raging Torrent in Kentucky from the winning Violence mare Violent Wave, whom they also bred. The mare is a half sister to graded stakes winner The Nth Degree.
Raging Torrent, 7-1-2 in 14 starts with earnings of $1,797,400, is one of three graded stakes winners this year for Maximus Mischief, the others being Royal North Stakes (G3T) winner Ms. Tart and Distaff Stakes (G3) winner Irish Maxima. Maximus Mischief stands for $15,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington.
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