Zipse: Don't sleep on Antiquarian in the Met Mile

Is Antiquarian ready to take things to the next level? We’ll find out in less than two weeks when the 5-year-old son of Preservationist tackles some of the biggest names in American racing in the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day. Also pointing to the prestigious race at its temporary location of Saratoga on June 6 are Journalism, who won last year’s Preakness Stakes as part of an excellent sophomore season, and Nysos, who has compiled a sparkling 9: 7-2-0 record for trainer Bob Baffert. Those two figure to attract the bulk of the attention in the stallion making affair better known as the Met Mile. Sleeping on Antiquarian, however, could well be a mistake. You don’t have to go back far in the illustrious history of the Met Mile to find a sharp horse pull off an upset over heavyweights in the division. Just last year, it was Raging Torrent who turned the trick as the 8-1 fourth choice, while toppling both Fierceness and White Abarrio. Fresh off an impressive win in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes, the Todd Pletcher-trained Antiquarian could be reaching a peak in his racing prowess in advance of the big test, which will be run out of the half-turn Wilson Chute at the Spa. Purchased by Centennial Farms for $250,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale, the handsome chestnut was unraced at 2 and has been playing catch up with the best horses of his generation ever since. While the champions Sierra Leone and Fierceness have gone off to make big money the breeding shed, it might be finally time for the mature version of Antiquarian to have his season in the sun. To date, he is best known as the horse who was able to take advantage of a wild beginning to last summer’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga. His stablemate Mindframe dramatically lost jockey Irad Ortiz shortly after the start of the race, and Sierra Leone and White Abarrio were also badly hampered. On the far outside, Antiquarian was able to avoid all the trouble on his way to victory. Rough running lines were the theme of the big race, but still the upset winner had to run big to defeat the star-studded field. A winner of the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct in his fourth career start, his connections have always liked Antiquarian. He got a shot at a classic in the 2024 Belmont Stakes, but was not quite up to the task less than five months into his racing career and finished fifth behind Dornoch, Mindframe, and Sierra Leone. Away from the races for ten months after running in the final leg of the Triple Crown, Antiquarian returned last spring to sharply win a Gulfstream Park allowance race in April. He was then an unlucky runner-up in both the Blame Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs and the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Saratoga in his next two starts, before earning his first Grade 1 score in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. For whatever reason, Antiquarian did little running in his fifth and final start as a 4-year-old, when he was eased down the stretch of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar. Through his first two seasons on the track, the copper colored colt with a distinctive white blaze had shown serious promise in winning four of ten starts, but had been unable to distinguish himself as a leader among his peers. Once again given a healthy break during the winter months, the experienced and mature version of Antiquarian could not have looked much better when trouncing the field in the one-mile Westchester at Aqueduct under rider John Velazquez. Often overlooked by bettors, he was the second-choice behind the heavily favored and consistent Bishops Bay, but when the real running began at the Big A it was no contest. Cruising home by nearly six lengths on the day after the Kentucky Derby, Antiquarian had announced himself a player in a strong older male division. The likes of Journalism and Nysos will not be easy outs in the upcoming Met Mile, but the same should be said about Antiquarian. And of the three, he will be the one with juicy odds when the gates spring open at Saratoga.