Commander easy winner in Journal Stakes

Commander improved his record to eight stakes wins in nine starts at Northlands Park with an easy score over Boomtown Brat in the $50,000 Journal on Monday. He paid $3.80 as the heavy favorite in the six-furlong sprint that drew six horses.

After breaking sharply from the outside post with Quincy Welch aboard, Commander settled into a stalking position while staying in the middle of the track. He started to move into contention on the stretch turn and it was obvious by the time they straightened out he was going to get past Boomtown Brat who had carved out quick interior fractions of 22.92 and 45.86 seconds. The final margin of 1 1/4 lengths was flattering as Welch eased up on Commander as he was passing Boomtown Brat. Clear the Runway passed tiring horses to finish third.

“I just kept him in the clear and let him run them down,” said Welch.

The final time was 1:11.61Commander, whose only loss at Northlands came in the Journal last year, is trained by Dennis Terry and owned by Glen Todd. Terry, Welch, and Todd also teamed up to win the $50,000 Wild Rose Handicap for fillies and mares with Saturday Nite Ride on Saturday.