Commissioner makes final career start in Hawthorne Gold Cup
STICKNEY, Ill. – Churchill Downs has two Grade 1 dirt routes for older males – the Stephen Foster in June and the Clark in November. The 4-year-old colt Commissioner started in the Foster this year, going to post as the third choice at a well-backed 3-1 but coming home a distant sixth, and since the Clark was held this week, Commissioner has wound up instead at Hawthorne, where he’ll start as a short-priced favorite Saturday in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gold Cup.
Expectations for Commissioner clearly have diminished over the last five months, and win or lose, the colt will be retired to stud at WinStar Farm following Saturday’s race. With one foot in the breeding shed and no top-level performance since May, Commissioner, while the most likely winner in a soft field of eight Saturday, could be a favorite worth opposing.
Todd Pletcher trains Commissioner, and Florent Geroux is in from Fair Grounds to ride him, and the connections only further drag down the odds, which are listed at 9-5 on the morning line but could easily drop lower in the betting.
Commissioner drew well in post 7, and the colt who finished a close second in the 2014 Belmont Stakes obviously can stay the Gold Cup’s 1 1/4 miles. Pletcher historically has been aces shipping to Hawthorne for graded stakes, and it’s possible that Commissioner can improve off a fading fifth Oct. 31 in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland.
“He was at WinStar for a little break over the summer, and by the time he was ready to run, we were backed all the way up to the Fayette,” said Pletcher. “We were hoping to get him started a little sooner than that, and I thought he ran well, considering he probably needed the race.”
Majestic Harbor on the rail and Valiant City in post 3 will go forward out of the gate, and Commissioner, lapped on the leader through a solid pace in the Fayette, won’t be far behind.
“He’ll show some type of tactical speed,” said Pletcher. “His strength is to click off those 12-second furlongs one after another.”
Valiant City, the local hope for the leading owner-trainer-jockey combination of Bill Stiritz, Scott Becker, and Chris Emigh, is not without a chance at a much more appealing price than Commissioner. Valiant City never has raced in a graded stakes but has finished third or better in all nine of his dirt races. He also has won half of his six starts over the Hawthorne main track and was sharp in winning a high-end dirt-route allowance here in October.
“I had this race in mind for a while,” said Becker. “The horse has been running well, training well, and some local horses have run well in this race, so I thought I’d give it a try.”
Valiant City never has raced beyond 1 1/16 miles but usually is coming forward in the final furlong of his two-turn dirt races.
“I don’t think the distance should be a problem,” said Becker. “He seems like a horse that would favor it.”
Majestic Harbor won the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June 2014, earning a huge 111 Beyer Speed Figure, but has not come close to that performance level since. Neck ’n Neck, the race’s third shipper, has proven best this year as a grinding marathoner at distances longer than this, has no upside, and would be a win underlay at his 7-2 morning line. Mister Marti Gras makes his fifth Hawthorne Gold Cup start and always has run well in the race, with second-place finishes the last two years to go with a pair of fourths. Street Spice and Fordubai also have made Gold Cup starts, but both appear past their prime. The longshot Lahshad completes the field.
Post time for the Gold Cup (race 8) is 5:45 p.m. Central. The track should be fast, with a clear day and a high in the low 40s forecast.