VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Commander could be leaving his cozy confines at Northlands Park to take a shot Aug. 24 in the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs. If he does, it will bring a sigh of relief to the connections of the horses in the older handicap division at Northlands. Over the last three years, Commander has won nine of his 10 starts in Edmonton, and despite packing 125 pounds in his most recent win in the Spangled Jimmy Handicap, he couldn’t have won any more easily. “It has certainly been weighing on my mind for the past couple of weeks,” said his owner, Glen Todd. “He obviously thrives at Northlands, and the Mile is always a tough race. He’s earned his way into it, though.” One of the problems facing Commander at Northlands is that it might be difficult to get horses to run against him July 19 in the $50,000 Fred Jones Stakes. He obviously would be picking up some weight for the Fred Jones, but from the way he won the Spangled Jimmy, they would need to put the grandstand on him to slow him down. It was a bit surprising that six horses lined up against him in the Spangled Jimmy, but one was owned by Todd, Hoist, and the rest were overmatched. “I don’t know what the plans are,” said his trainer, Dennis Terry. “All I can tell you is that he is doing very well right now, and he really loves it here.” Todd also was considering running Commander in the $50,000 Lieutenant Governors’ Handicap on July 1 at Hastings as the first step toward the Longacres Mile. Todd followed a similar path with Taylor Said, who won the 2012 Mile. The difference is that Taylor Said is a British Columbia-bred, and as well as winning the Lieutenant Governors’ Handicap, he had what was little more than a workout when he romped in the 1 1/8-mile B.C. Cup Classic just 12 days before winning the Mile. Not being a B.C.-bred, Commander isn’t eligible for the Classic. “It’s a tough choice, and I’ll have to make a decision by Monday or Tuesday about what we’re going to do with him,” Todd said. The horse Todd would really like to get to the Mile is Taylors Deal. Todd ranks him as one of the best horses he’s ever owned, but due to physical problems, he hasn’t made it to the races very often. The 5-year-old B.C.-bred has started 11 times, winning seven times and finishing second twice. Taylors Deal has raced twice as an older horse, and both races were spread pretty far apart. He had been off for more than a year when he won the $50,000 Express Stakes last Sept. 2. In his only start since, he won the $50,000 John Longden 6000 on May 19. In both races, he threatened the track record – for six furlongs in the Express and 6 1/2 furlongs in the Longden. As a 3-year-old, he won a couple of stakes races going 1 1/16 miles, the $75,000 Turf Paradise Derby and the B.C. Cup Stellar’s Jay, and it seems like a mile would be the perfect distance for him. “There is no telling how good he could have been if he was sound,” Todd said. “If we can get him there, I think he’ll have a good shot at winning it. He’s actually doing very well right now, and we just don’t want to make any mistakes with him.” According to his trainer, Troy Taylor, Taylors Deal is in training at Pegasus Training and Equine Rehabilitation Center in Redmond, Wash. “We’re doing the best we can to keep him going, so he’s doing a lot of swimming,” said Taylor. “I think he’s the best we got, and hopefully we can get him there.” It actually is possible that Todd could run three horses in the Mile. Along with Mark DeDomenico, he owns Mr. Bowling, who is coming off a second-place finish in the one-mile Budweiser Handicap at Emerald for trainer Mike Puhich. Todd said Mr. Bowling is coming to Hastings, where he will make his next start in the Lieutenant Governors’ Handicap.