Commissioner looms as favorite in Gold Cup

STICKNEY, Ill. – Commissioner should be heavily favored Saturday to give trainer Todd Pletcher his third win in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, and if he needs any last-second prerace tips, a horse standing right next to him in the starting gate should be able to provide plenty of sage advice.

Commissioner was one of eight older horses entered Wednesday in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gold Cup, a 1 1/4-mile dirt race. He breaks from post 7, one stall outside of Mister Marti Gras, who, at 8, is literally twice Commissioner’s age.

When Commissioner still was a weanling running around some field in Kentucky during the autumn of 2011, Mister Marti Gras was making his first start in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, and he has not missed the race since. Fourth in 2011, Mister Marti Gras finished fourth again in 2012, but he was second behind a sharp Last Gunfighter in 2013 and second to a sharp Red Rifle in last year’s Gold Cup.

“He’s resilient, tough, and consistent year in and year out,” said Chris Block, who trains Mister Marti Gras for Bob Lothenbach.

Mister Marti Gras has gone 0 for 7 in 2015, but the Gold Cup looks soft this year, and though he was fourth last out in a Hawthorne allowance race, Mister Marti Gras is by no means out of his depth Saturday.

“He’s had some tough luck this year,” Block said. “He’s doing good. I put this at the top of the list at the beginning of the season, to get to this race one more time. We’ll hope for a fair-playing track and a quick pace.”

Pletcher won this race in 2008 with Fairbanks and in 2014 with Red Rifle, whose foes last year included Effinex, among the favorites Friday in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. The Gold Cup lacks that kind of depth this year, with the only shippers besides Commissioner being Neck N Neck and Majestic Harbor, both basically listed-stakes types at this stage of the game. Florent Geroux is in to ride Commissioner, who was a decent fourth last month after contesting a quick pace in the Fayette Stakes at Keeneland.

The others in the race are Street Spice and Fordubai, both trained by Greg Geier; Lahshad, possibly the race’s longest price; and Valiant City, who goes for the meet’s leading connections, owner Bill Stiritz, trainer Scott Becker, and jockey Chris Emigh.

The Gold Cup goes as race 8 at 5:40 p.m. Central and is supported by the $50,000 Blackhawk for Illinois-bred sprinters. The local forecast calls for clear skies and a high temperature of 42 degrees.