BackTrack: Bribon Prevails in 2009 Met Mile

Bobby Ribaudo was on a mission, as he prepared his 6-year-old gelding Bribon for the May 25 Shadwell Metropolitan Handicap (G1). Ribaudo was well aware that, in 26 career starts, Bribon had never won two consecutive races. 

In his last start, the French-bred son of Mark of Esteem—Rowat Arazi, by Arazi, had captured the Westchester Stakes (G3) April 29 with a wide, sweeping move. The question now was could he come back in the Met Mile and finally put together back-to-back wins? 

"In the back of our minds is his reputation for not being able to put two big races back to back," Ribaudo said before the race. "But he really is doing very well, and this is a race that you have to run in if you have the horse. More than anything else, he needs a real pace. The Westchester set up perfectly for him. There should be a big field (in the Met), and usually in a big field, there is plenty of speed. We should be OK."

Well, as it turned out, Ribaudo did have the horse, there was a big field, Ribaudo did get a real pace, and in the end Ribaudo sure was OK, as Bribon, co-favorite at 3-1 with Smooth Air, took advantage of a swift pace and charged down the stretch, out-battling Smooth Air to win by a hard-earned half-length in 1:34.15 for the mile.

The 58-year-old Ribaudo, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., is a veteran on the New York circuit, but did not win his first grade 1 stakes until Grand Couturier won the 2007 Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes (G1T). Now, with Bribon, he has his first career grade 1 win on dirt.

Both Bribon and Grand Couturier are owned by Marc Keller, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., who had to borrow money to buy his first racehorse. An investment adviser based in Manhattan, Keller owned horses from 1976-88 with trainer Harry Brice. He left the game feeling it had become too time-consuming, but returned several years ago, buying horses in Europe, which has turned into a lucrative venture, with Grand Couturier (a three-time grade I winner) and Bribon, who first made a name for himself when he finished a fast-closing third in last fall's Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile (G1).

Of the 12 horses that went to the post in the Met Mile, there were only two grade or group 1 winners—one was on the grass and one in a sprint in Argentina a year earlier. However, seven of the starters were coming off victories, four in graded stakes, and not one of them had finished worse than third in their previous start. So, while there were no marquee names, it still was a deep, competitive field.

There had been a trio of 3-year-olds targeting the Met Mile, but This Ones for Phil dropped out four days before the race due to a cough and Mr. Fantasy was withdrawn two days later after spiking a fever. That left Imperial Council as the only remaining 3-year-old in the field.

Driven by Success and Accredit, as expected, fought it out early through fractions of :22.70 and :45.20 before Driven by Success opened a three-length lead passing the three-eighths pole. Bribon had been racing in mid-pack, then swung five-wide under Alan Garcia, circling the field, as Smooth Air, racing in fourth early, slipped through between Driven by Success and Riley Tucker turning for home.

Despite three-quarters in a brisk 1:08.55, Driven by Success hung tough and battled Bribon and Smooth Air stride for stride in the final furlong. My Pal Charlie, who stumbled at the start, made a good run just outside Bribon, then appeared to shy slightly from Garcia's right-handed whip on the winner. Bribon, carrying 117 pounds, and Smooth Air, under highweight of 118, began to inch away from Driven by Success as a team, with Bribon getting the better of a game Smooth Air in the final strides. Driven by Success barely held on to third by a nose over My Pal Charlie.

The big disappointment was third-choice Mr. Sidney , winner of the grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile on the turf at Keeneland in his previous start. After making a bold early move along the rail to reach contention, he flattened out, finishing 11th.

Bribon has now won four of his last seven starts and earlier had earned a whopping 118 Beyer Speed Figure, romping in a one-mile allowance optional claimer in June 2008.

"Going wide the way he does might not be the best way, or the shortest way home, but he's very comfortable doing that and it worked out great today," Ribaudo said. "A mile is a great distance for him, but it's time to give him a break now. There are no mile races left—nothing of any consequence. He deserves a little break. Maybe we'll come back in Saratoga at seven-eighths.  He's as strong now as he ever was and maybe a little better."  

Keller purchased Bribon privately from his owner and breeder, S.I. Darpat, after the horse captured an allowance race at Chantilly in October 2005. Following a fifth-place finish in the group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, Keller sent Bribon to Ribaudo, who ran him once before having to put the horse on the shelf for 10 months. After five more defeats, the last three second-place finishes, Bribon finally won in the U.S., taking a six-furlong allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct in November 2007. Seven more allowance races followed before Bribon's breakthrough third in the Cigar Mile.

It is obvious those allowance days are over, as Bribon has proven himself to be a top stakes-caliber miler, winning five of his 10 starts at a mile, with two seconds and a third.

As for Smooth Air, the "little horse that could" continues to run his heart out, on dirt or turf, at racetracks all over the country.

"This will be the eighth racetrack that Smooth Air has raced at," trainer Bennie Stutts said before the Met. Each evening like clockwork, Stutts makes sure he gives his horse two mints and a kiss. 

"He brought us from coast to coast, and now he's brought us to New York," Stutts added. "His owners (Mount Joy Stables) want to increase his value as a stallion, and they believe that he needs to win a grade 1 like the Met Mile. This race is one that we've been looking at for a long time."

Although Smooth Air didn't win the Met Mile, he continues to increase his value as a stallion.