NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Dixie Brass Wins Metropolitan Mile

By beating older horses in the Metropolitan Mile on Monday, Dixie Brass might have earned a spot in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

“The Belmont is a possibility, but we’ll see how he comes out of it and make a decision,” trainer Dennis Brida said after Dixie Brass, the only 3-year-old in a field of 11, scored a wire-to-wire victory at Belmont Park. “This is the one we wanted, and we got it.”

Jockey Julio Pezua, riding Dixie Brass to victory for the second consecutive time, was impressed.

“No one can beat this horse going a mile,” he said. “He’s very fast. We got the lead easy.”

Carrying low weight of 107 pounds, Dixie Brass set fractions of 22 2/5, 44 4/5 and 1:08 2/5. He finished in 1:33 3/5, three-fifths of a second off the stakes and track record set by Conquistador Cielo in 1982.

Dixie Brass returned $11.00, $6.60 and $5.40 as the fourth choice in the betting. Pleasant Tap, carrying 119 pounds, paid $7.00 and $5.20. In Excess, under co-high weight of 121 pounds, returned $5.20 to show.

The loss was the fifth in a row for In Excess, beginning with last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, in which he finished ninth as the favorite and lost any chance to be voted horse of the year. He has suffered from hoof problems this year.

Twilight Agenda, the 2-1 favorite trained by Wayne Lukas, ran an even race to finish fourth under Chris McCarron, beaten by fourth lengths.

Pat Day, who won his first Kentucky Derby earlier this month, won his first Jersey Derby on American Chance, who caught pacesetter Majestic Sweep in final strides to win by a neck at Garden State Park.

American Chance covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50 4/5 and paid $6, $3.60 and $2.80.