The Metropolitan Handicap

[bdhsheets@hotmail.com]

There\'s more myth than legend to this race. Quick now, who won last year? How about five of the last ten? Hmmmm, neither could I. 2001 the immortal Exciting Story splashed to victory in the slowest running since 1947. Yankee Victor, Sir Bear, Wild Rush, Langfuhr, Honour and Glory, You and I, Holy Bull, Ibero, Dixie Brass ahhhh, trip down memory lane with those immortals.

Being bumped to a $750k race this year has bought in some really big shooters. Pts after ML refers to Quirin speed points.

1. Grey Memo 15-1 4pts 116# Luckiest horse on the planet! Stumbled out to Dubai to win the Godolphin Mile and $600k. TG guesstimate of a 2.75 finally breaks through his 3yo (3.0) top by a smidgeon. Too slow in here.

2. D\'Wildcat 10-1 7pts 115# had a monster effort in the Swale Stks in \'01 a minus <0.5> and it sent him to the sidelines for a year. The 3.25 in his last is a secondary top and a one pt move from his 1st two in \'02. Showing signs of life.

3. Affirmed Success 9/2 8pts 119# 8yo gelding is a running machine, but a dirt mile may be stretching it [5-1-1-1] but his love of Belmont [7-5-1-0] may overcome this. Goo lover. Last was lifetime best <0.25> after 3 straight 0\'s. 6 weeks since his last effort, but I don\'t see him as the winner.

4. Left Bank 5/2 8pts 121# Yowza, Yowza, Yowza folks. This may be THE FASTEST horse in TG history. Five negative numbers on the sheet, hot damn, with three <3.0>\'s and he\'s alive to talk about it LOL. Take time to download the race in the Red Board room Tuesday. The negative runs have been followed by a return to plus numbers. His \'02 debut of <1.5> 16 days ago and the highweight makes him a strong play against in the win spot in my minds eye at a very short price.

5. Swept Overboard 6-1 3pts 117# has a <1.25> last fall at SA before the BC. Big closer will lose ground on the turn, has yet to contest 8f; 3rd after the layoff seems a bit dull thus far.

6. Voodoo 20-1 8pts 113# hit 3yo top in the Carter \"0.25\", gets in light, a must use in the exotics.

7. Crafty C. T. 5-1 8pts 115# ouchy horse, plenty of gaps in running line; 3pt top in 4yo debut to an \"0.5\", 12 weeks rest might do it for Cali speed ball.

8. Wake At Noon 30-1 8pts 116# four negative numbers on the sheet for this Canuck runner who are generally a notch or so below US runners on the dirt; won\'t be able to clear these should wind up with a wide trip, perhaps bottom of tri\'s.

9. Dayton Flyer 30-1 6pts 113# connections will wish they were in Dayton before this is over. Likely scr???

10. Aldebaran 5-1 3pts 115# a race with a Frankel horse, oh joy! 1.25 top to a \"1.5\" at Kee, troubled trip, strong closer in a race full of sppppeeeed burners.

11. Burning Roma 10-1 4pts 116# Bailey jumps off, good! has a <1.0> in the slop at Delaware last year; finished with a \"0.5\" in the Pegasus at the Med. Bonafide router has two sprint tightners including a \"1.0\" in the Carter. If Prado can work out a rail trip, he can win this.

I\'m playing Voodoo and Burning Roma in various exotic wagers.

Good Luck later today!

bdhsheets

[bj]

*** Two of the above mentioned horses were Woodbine based - Langfuhr and Exciting Story .Langfuhr\'s background was actually very similar to Wake at Noon\'s as they both were pointed to the Queen\'s Plate (1 1/4 miles) ran abysmally and became decent at races up to a one turn mile. Wake at Noon has looked visually impressive this spring - at any kind of price approaching his ML - don\'t ignore . Last year Exciting story was 50-1 . Happy memorial day . bj

[tread]

Left Bank looks vulnerable here, he has always reacted to negative numbers in the past and this was only 2+ weeks ago.  Plus add the weight, I think he runs about a 1 here.

Voodoo is definitely the most intriguing.  Got back to his 3yr old top 2nd out at 4 and now returns off rest, gets weight.  He looks like the key here.  I do agree about Wake at Noon, has the 2nd best looking line.  Both should be nice prices.  How do they look on the Ragozin sheets?  LOL, just kidding...

[TGJB]

Personally, I was very happy with Exciting Story\'s win. Oh, Canada!