Commissioning wins third straight in Group 1 Fillies' Mile

Commissioning capped a perfect three-start 2022 campaign with a Group 1 win in the Fillies' Mile on Friday at Newmarket.

The 2-year-old filly had won the Group 2 Rockfel over seven furlongs at Newmarket well enough that she was the odds-on favorite stretching to one mile Friday, and after a slightly anxious moment a furlong out, with pacesetting Novakai holding her at bay, Commissioning surged through the final uphill portion of the race to win by one length.

It was the first Group 1 victory for 49-year-old jockey Robert Havlin, who picked up the mount for co-trainers John and Thady Gosden because regular rider Frankie Dettori was serving the final day of a suspension Friday. Havlin has ridden regularly for the Gosden stable but does not typically pilot their runners in top-level races.

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Commissioning will go into the winter a relatively short price for the 1000 Guineas, like the Fillies' Mile run over a straight course at Newmarket. John Gosden said that Commissioning had galloped out powerfully Friday, suggesting longer races, like the Oaks, could be in play. The top two home Friday were well clear of the other six, Bright Diamond finishing nearly six lengths behind Novakai, a Lope de Vega filly who stayed on well in defeat. Commissioning is by Kingman out of Sovereign Parade, by Galileo.

One race earlier, Pogo might have run himself into a Breeders’ Cup Mile start with a game, front-running victory in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes over seven furlongs. Pogo, a 6-year-old trained by Charlie Hills, has made 37 starts and never won a Group 1, but he was a solid second in August behind Prix de la Foret winner and BC Mile-bound Kinross.

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