A year since his GI Belmont S. win, Tonalist (Tapit) is rolling with a head full of steam into the GI Metropolitan H., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The Belmont specialist is a perfect four-for-four at his home track and was given the 5-2 morning-line nod to keep his spotless Big Sandy record intact. Since last year's Belmont upset, Tonalist was second to Wicked Strong (Hard Spun) in the GII Jim Dandy S. and third behind V.E. Day(Curlin) in the GI Travers S. at the Spa. Back at Belmont, he took the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup before wrapping up his stellar sophomore season with a fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Robert Evans silksbearer was away slowly in his seasonal debut in the GIII Westchester S. May 2, but rallied impressively for the win.
“He was a very nice horse last year, and I think he's still a very nice horse,” his conditioner Christophe Clement offered. “Is he a stronger horse? He's probably a bit stronger from three to four. I liked him last year. He's probably grown a little, but mostly he's just filled out more. He's training again very well. He's a very exciting horse. We're excited for the race.”
“It is going to be a very big day,” Clement said of Saturday. “For people who love racing, it's like a Breeders' Cup before the Breeders' Cup. I wish I wasn't running anything so I could enjoy it more. I'm going to be anxious all day.”
Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern (Offlee Wild) returns to Elmont for the firs time since his GII Woody Stephens romp last year. Kaleem Shah's colt disappointed when sixth as the even-money favorite in the GII Churchill Downs S. on the Derby undercard.
“I think he got a bum rap after the Breeders' Cup,” conditioner Bob Baffert said. “He didn't run well off the layoff. He never has run well at Churchill. I think he really needed it. He came back and worked really strong. We know he likes this track. It's a really tough race, but he's doing really well, so I expect a big effort from him. When he came off the plane [Tuesday] he was breathing fire. When he's like that, he's really sharp. It's a tough race, but he's a tough horse. He can handle that.”
The quick-footed Private Zone (Macho Uno), who tallied consecutive GI Vosburgh H. victories in his two attempts over this oval, was transferred to the Jorge Navarro stable over the winter. Since then, the bay was narrowly second to Honor Code (A.P. Indy) in the GII Gulfstream Park H. and cruised in the GII Churchill Downs S. May 2.
Foreign invader Tamarkuz (Speightstown) enters the Met Mile off a four-race win streak, including tallies in Meydan's G3 Firebreak S. Feb. 12, G3 Burj Nahaar S. Mar 7 and G2 Godlophin Mile Mar 28.
“This Met Mile is a serious, serious race,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who will also saddle Bay of Plenty (Medaglia d'Oro). “It seems to be one of the toughest ones we've had, especially when you're in it. It's a very, very good race.”
As for Tamarkuz, McLaughlin said, “We're happy to have him. We're happy that he's in the barn. We might not have found a tougher race to put him in, that's the problem. It's going to be a real challenge, but he's doing well and we're looking forward to leading him over there. He's a really neat horse. He does everything right; we just hope he's good enough.”
The Shug McGaughey trained Honor Code will seek his first Grade I score. The 'TDN Rising Star' was sidelined for eight months during his 3-year-old season and returned with an optional claiming win at the Big A Nov. 22. He rallied nicely to score in the Gulfstream Park H., but was too far back too early in the GII Alysheba and could do no better than fifth at Churchill May 1.
“He's always trained well here and he seems to have an affinity for the New York tracks,” McGaughey stated. “He's run once at Saratoga and won. He ran twice at Aqueduct and won and once here and just got beat. We'll see what happens. It's a good race. There looks to be a lot of speed in there on paper, which will help us. The faster they go, the better it will be for us. It could set it up for us, because we'll be back there.”
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