The Metropolitan Handicap (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
SAR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
June 7, 2025

On any other day, a field of this stature would be the talk of the day, as the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap was loaded. On Saturday, it was simply part of the undercard, but with many horses who are ordinarily headliners running, a great race was expected. The grand prize was the winner’s share of a $1,000.000 purse and the all-important automatic spot into the BC Dirt Mile. Bettors were all over the place in who they liked, making All Take a favorite, but still with odds of about 4/1. Many would see double digit odds, and that would include the one who prevailed at the end of the race, John Henry’s Quiet Return. The 2023 KYD winner went off at 14/1, and was making his third start in John Henry silks, after the trainer made a $300.000 private sales investment. Coming from behind to win in the stretch, Quiet Return gives John Henry, as well as jockey M E Smith, their first Metropolitan Handicap trophy. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:33.93, a tad slower than last year, but all that was needed. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :22.48)- The field moves around the clubhouse turn with Inglourious Bastards and Crush Rush, respectively trained by Royalty Stables and Maxmillion Farm, jumping out to the lead and running alongside one another early on. On Schedule stalks the top two for Mb Stables, and behind him, we have a group of three that sees Asgar’s Parisian Arrow on the rail, with two D J C Racing Stables horses, Bad Debt and Licit, to his outside. All Take is on the outside for Alydar Stables in the middle of the field, with last year’s BEL winner, Good Memories closer to the inside for Mb Stables. Next up, we have a group of four, the first sees Spankys Barn’s Mr Toxic running on the outside. Also, a part of this is our eventual winner from John Henry, Quiet Return, who is officially five lengths from the front. Lennon (Mb Stables) runs evenly with him, and Tetris (Ajm Stables) is within half a length. Behind them, it’s Charming Man (Rock Creek), with Baffert (Royalty Stables) trailing them all.

(½ Mile- :45.85)- Heading down the backstretch, not much is changing with how the field runs. Crush Rush is a head in front of Inglourious Bastards, with On Schedule seemingly having a nice stalking trip right behind them. There’re no changes with the three right behind them, as Parisian Arrow still keeps the D J C stablemates of Bad Debt and Licit company. All Take makes a little progress, and seems to be considering making it four wide into the turn, before settling on being a length behind them. Mr Toxic takes it five wide at the top of the turn, as Lennon moves up a little bit to pass his stablemate, Good Memories. Next in line is Quiet Return, and he is now six lengths off the lead while staying on the rail. Tetris is to his outside still, with Charming Man next. Baffert has fallen into a ten length hole.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Horses jockey for position within the turn to try and make their run in the stretch and grab that win. For now, they are all chasing Crush Rush, who is prevailing over Inglourious Bastards now, and is about a length ahead of that one. On Schedule is even for second and looks to go by on the inside. Bad Debt was also running very well, and the 2024 KYD winner is only a length and a half back. Parisian Arrow was still hanging around, and running fifth, but Licit, who seemed destined for a better run today, was backing out of it. He was imminently about to be passed by multiple rivals already, including the Mb Stables pair of Good Memories and Lennon, who were to his inside, and the outside running Mr Toxic and All Take. All Take was also showing signs of fatigue and looked to be dropping back as well. As those horses were spread out, there was a nice opening between them for Quiet Return to come on through, and M E Smith looked to take advantage of it. He still had a lot of work to do, but it appeared as though he could avoid a lot of traffic trouble. Tetris also had plans of moving forward but looked to swing wide to do so. Charming Man looked to make his run on the inside, and we could now at least see Baffert in the picture.

(Finish- 1:33.93)- Things tighten up as this talented field gets closer to the while. Quiet Return was indeed able to come through between horses, and with a furlong to go, he was coming on through between Inglourious Bastards and Bad Debt. Behind him, Baffert was using the same lane, which would be good to potentially pass everyone but Quiet Return. In the final strides, and in a battle between two KYD winners, 2023’s winner, Quiet Return, would edge out 2024’s winner, Bad Debt, by close to a length. Baffert’s late run sees him hit the board again but not win again, running third, ahead of Parisian Arrow. That one was narrowly ahead of a dead heat for fifth between Crush Rush and On Schedule. The remaining order of finish will read Mr Toxic, Inglourious Bastards, Charming Man, Tetris, Good Memories, Lennon, Licit, and All Take.

About the Winner- Quiet Return, trained by John Henry and ridden to victory by M E Smith, is a five-year-old gelding by Graveyard and is out of Return Of Mai Mia. He was bred in California by Allinthegate as a first quarter two-year-old, and was acquired by John Henry for $300.000 in a February 2025 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his eighth in 29 starts, and his sixth stake win, all of which are graded. His career earnings are now $6,828.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :22²  :45⁴  1:09³  1:33⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 2 Paid 152.60
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 2 – 11 Paid 736.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES