Out of Sexton, By My Standards goes to Met Mile

Expected to be one of the top betting choices Monday night, four-time Grade 2 winner By My Standards will be scratched from the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) at Lone Star Park and aimed instead for next weekend’s Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park, his owner confirmed Saturday morning.

“I hope the time is right to get the elusive Grade 1,” Chester Thomas said in a text message to Horse Racing Nation. “By My Standards has a ton of class, heart and grit.”

Thomas first told Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association spokeswoman Jennie Rees about the move, doing so in a text message Friday. Asked Saturday morning at Churchill Downs about the switch, trainer Bret Calhoun deferred to Thomas.

A winner in last month’s Oaklawn Mile, 5-year-old By My Standards is a Goldencents horse who has $2,069,430 in earnings. But he is 0-for-4 in Grade 1 starts, finishing 11th in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, second to Improbable in the 2020 Whitney, eighth in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic and seventh in the 2020 Clark.

By My Standards was a 5-2 second choice on the morning line for the Sexton Mile. His exit leaves seven other horses to race Monday for the $400,000 purse. Seeking his eighth win in nine starts for trainer Peter Miller, C Z Rocket was installed as the 2-1 favorite.

With the move to next Saturday’s Met Mile, By My Standards joins a list of probables led by Knicks Go, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) winner who is coming back from a fourth-place finish Feb. 20 in the $20 million Saudi Cup.