Mohegan Sun Metropolitan H.

One didn't need to look at a tote board or study any past performances lines to make the best educated guess about what the outcome of the $1.2 million Grade 1 Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Handicap would be.

On the day the final leg of the Triple Crown was to be contested, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith flew in to New York and, as the day wore on, completely owned the blockbuster slate of stakes that comprised the June 10 Belmont Stakes undercard. Based solely off what had already played out leading into the Met Mile, the combined presence from a pair of Hall of Famers figured yet again to be an unbeatable force.

In the Met Mile, the final dirt stakes race before the Belmont, hard-knocking Mor Spirit took it to Sharp Azteca early and then put that one in his place en route to a 6 ¼-length win. It marked the fourth victory on the day for Baffert and fifth triumph for Smith – all coming in stakes over Belmont Park's main track.

Earlier on the card, Baffert and Smith teamed up to win the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes with Abel Tasman, the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes with American Anthem, and the listed Easy Goer Stakes with West Coast. Smith also picked up a fifth win on the dirt when he piloted champion Songbird to a win in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes to mark her 2017 comeback. 

By post time for the Met Mile, the betting public heeded what was taking place Saturday and sent Mor Spirit off as the 2.55-1 favorite in the 12-horse field. The 4-year-old Eskendereya ridgling held up his end of the bargain and kept a brilliant day going for his reinsman when he raced off Sharp Azteca's throat through opening fractions of :23.20 and :46.05.

Mor Spirit rolled up to stick a head in front coming off the final turn and the result was a foregone conclusion from there. With Smith applying some left-handed encouragement, they hit the wire in a time of 1:33.71 for eight furlongs. That win earned Mor Spirit an automatic berth in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, as the Met Mile is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” qualifying race.

"It's a pretty incredible day for us. To be able to pull this off... I wish I had another horse in," Baffert said. "I'm so proud of these horses. On a big day like this, for them to run like this, it's pretty incredible.

"I'll never top that day [when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown] but this day is pretty huge. It's pretty big for us. Mainly for those horses. Mike Smith was huge and this is Mike Smith's home. I just have a great team."

Sharp Azteca held on to finish a clear second, with Tommy Macho third and Awesome Slew fourth.

The prestige of the Met Mile adds an substantial amount of gleam to an already solid résumé Mor Spirit has amassed. Aside from a tenth place run in last year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and a fourth-place finish in the Malibu Stakes last December, Mor Spirit has not been worse than second in his 13 career outings. He snapped a three-race losing skid when he took the Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park March 18 and was coming off a 5 ¾-length victory in the May 7 Steve Sexton Mile Stakes at Lone Star Park.–Alicia Wincze-Hughes