00:00One of those awesome races, Angela, is the Met Mile.
00:03This is for older horses, and we see some familiar names in here.
00:06Journalism, who was the Preakness winner from last year and was a horse who had great success in those Triple
00:11Crown races.
00:12He's going to be in here, but this is not an easy field.
00:15He is not even installed as the Morning Line favorite.
00:18That goes to Nysos, who is the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner.
00:22He's a Grade 1 winner.
00:23He is a horse who is awesome.
00:25He has incredible talent.
00:27His only issues is that he's had a hard time staying on the track.
00:31He's had some physical issues through the years, so he's only raced nine times.
00:35But, wow, Nysos is a really good horse.
00:38Right.
00:38Delicate dynamite, I guess you would say.
00:40He has all the ability in the world.
00:42It's just that, parimutually, he's not of much use.
00:46The biggest price he's been is 6-1.
00:48That was his debut, and ever since that time, a lot of times he's odds-on.
00:52And a lot of times, even if you're trying to utilize him in some sort of sequence, multi-race sequence,
00:57everybody's using him.
00:58So, Nysos is a horse that I am always going to try to beat for that reason only,
01:02not the fact that Nysos doesn't have, I mean, some of the best ability,
01:07especially at a dirt mile in this country.
01:09And he also just had a trip to Saudi Arabia and back.
01:13Those trips sometimes, those international ones, take a lot out of you.
01:16He's the type of horse who's had a lot of little issues.
01:19Like, I could absolutely see him needing a race or two to get back to his best efforts.
01:24Vibe is the two.
01:25He seems like kind of a long shot in here, Angela.
01:27I was surprised because he was entered in a race last weekend where he would have been a major player,
01:32but he's a big long shot in here.
01:34I don't know if he's quite up to the same class level as the rest of this group.
01:39A compliment to the fact that they think he can hang with this group because of how tough it did
01:43end up coming up.
01:44Not sure if they had those thoughts when they initially scratched out of the blame,
01:47because like you said, he was a standout.
01:49He had an outside post.
01:51He was really in good shape, I thought, in there.
01:53You are going to get value if you like Vibe in here,
01:55but he might have his hands very full from start to finish,
01:59especially when it comes to the pace.
02:00Vibe is going to get a real test.
02:01I thought the three, Antiquarian, is really well spotted in here
02:05because if you're someone like you and I who are going to take a shot against Nysos
02:09and we're not sure if he's going to be ready,
02:12Antiquarian, he's going to go second start off the bench.
02:15He got a nice prep race under him.
02:17He's kind of grown up and matured now, and he's a five-year-old.
02:20It's still pretty lightly raced.
02:22There may be some pace to run at in here if Vibe is able to push the pace a little
02:26bit,
02:26along with Saudi Crown, Raided by Merritt, Knightsbridge.
02:30They could all be close up.
02:31What do you think about Antiquarian's chances in here?
02:34I think he's got a great shot.
02:35I think he's becoming a very popular name that I hear a lot,
02:38so I'm not counting on six to one.
02:40I think they like him up in New York quite a bit, and he validates that trust.
02:44He runs very well up there, and he can make his own trip.
02:47And I think, like you talked about and touched with the maturity of the Westchester,
02:51it just seemed like he was kind of ready.
02:53And Antiquarian, if he has put all the pieces together and still has some speed to him,
02:58it's very dangerous if he can let some horses melt down on the front end.
03:03Saudi Crown is a grade one winner.
03:05He's now a six-year-old, and he wants to be really close up early in his races.
03:10I just don't know if he's been facing the same type of company recently as he's going to face in
03:16here.
03:16He's had success. He's won back-to-back races.
03:19But in those races, there wasn't a Nysos, a Journalism, an Antiquarian, a Knightsbridge,
03:24any horses like that where he'll maybe face four or five really, really tough ones here.
03:30You touched on it perfectly, kind of going after big purses on the low road,
03:34not having to face off against the best.
03:37And you make a lot of money that way,
03:39but Saudi Crown still has to show that he's going to take on this group of big boys.
03:43And if he wants to do it on the front end, he's really going to have to run one of
03:47the biggest races of his life.
03:48Nothing wrong with his body of work at all.
03:50It's just going to be a tough task on the front end for anybody.
03:54And I think eight to one would be a healthy enough price if you do like that.
03:57It's going to be the toughest field that Rated by Merritt has ever faced.
04:00Can you build a case for this Florida bred who's a little bit of a long shot in here?
04:04I'm kind of a sucker for Rated by Merritt.
04:06I've been a big fan of his from the start.
04:08I just think that his speed, it's so hard to keep a horse going good for that long
04:14and keep his speed as sharp as it is and keep stretching it out.
04:17I think he's maybe reached his limit as far as that,
04:20but Rated by Merritt at the very least will make sure that there's a solid pace up front.
04:24And if nobody decides to go and challenge him, he's got a pretty big heart.
04:28So I'm going to probably use him, but it'll be a reach to see if he can hang on.
04:31We'll have to get quickly through Knightsbridge and journalism.
04:34Knightsbridge won like four in a row,
04:36but then he faced a really tough group last time out and it was kind of a wake-up call
04:40for him.
04:40Do you think he can bounce back in this spot?
04:42Kind of alarming since he had run so well at Churchill previously,
04:46but if you're willing to toss that one,
04:48I'm definitely willing to bet that Knightsbridge can show all the previous potential in this spot.
04:53Journalism's the one they'll all have to hold off in here.
04:55He's going to make his second start back now as a four-year-old.
04:58So Angela, as we round out this field, where did you go with selections in the Met mile?
05:04I'm going to see if Knightsbridge can't rebound in this spot.
05:08I think being to the outside of all the other speed is going to put him in a good spot
05:12to really not have to make tough decisions early.
05:14And some of that potential that he's shown previously will come bubbling back to the top.
05:18Antiquarian for me, 3-1-7-2.
05:21Antiquarian for me, 3-1-7-3.
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