Consistent stablemates clash in Commentator

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown may have more accomplished horses in his barn than Zivo and Readtheprospectus, but it’s unlikely he has any that are as consistent as these two 5-year-old New York-breds.

Combined, Zivo and Readtheprospectus have won 12 of the last 14 races in which they have competed. Saturday, they will face each other for the first time in the $200,000 Commentator Stakes at Belmont Park, the highlight of a 10-race card restricted to New York-breds. The Commentator, a one-turn mile race, drew a field of 13.

The card includes six stakes with purse money totaling $900,000. The entire card offers purses worth $1.127 million. This is the first of three cards on the New York Racing Association calendar highlighting New York-breds. There will be one on Aug. 24 at Saratoga and another in October at Belmont.

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Last year, Readtheprospectus won the Commentator, his sixth consecutive victory in what became a seven-race winning streak. That run came to an end last Oct. 19 in the $250,000 Empire Classic, where Readtheprospectus finished seventh of eight. He was given time off after that and, though Brown was hoping to get him started before this, he likes the way the horse is coming up to this one-turn mile race.

“In a perfect world, I wouldn’t want to bring him back off a layoff in this type of race,” Brown said Thursday from Saratoga. “We got started a little bit later than I wanted with him but this month he really turned the corner.”

Readtheprospectus is 2 for 2 in one-turn-mile races. He breaks from post 7 under Junior Alvarado.

Last Oct. 17, Zivo won a second-level allowance race for New York-breds going a one-turn mile at Belmont. After losing a stakes at Aqueduct by a head to Awesome Vision, Zivo reeled off four consecutive victories, including a visually impressive two-length victory in a one-turn mile allowance on April 26 at Aqueduct. He is 5 for 8 at a mile.

“This horse has been very impressive,” Brown said. “He’s got a lot of class; you like to see a horse develop like that. I got to give the horse all the credit in this situation.”

Brown finds it difficult to separate the two horses.

“They’re very similar horses. They run very similar numbers. They’ve shown the ability to win consecutive races and get on a roll, which is very hard to do – I don’t care what level you’re at,” Brown said. “They are both very similar and I’m lucky to have both in my barn.”

Awesome Vision was the last horse to beat Zivo, edging him by a head in the Move It Now Stakes over Aqueduct’s main track, coincidentally the last time he ran in a one-turn mile race.

Awesome Vision was twice beaten by Zivo in New York-bred stakes over Aqueduct’s inner track. Trainer Tom Albertrani gave him time off after the Kings Point on Feb. 22.

“We gave him a little breather and the horse has been training exceptionally well,” Albertrani said. “His whole thing is if he gets a nice strong pace up front he’ll finish a lot better.”

Prohibition, who put forth some eye-catching performances around two turns at Aqueduct last winter, Smooth Bert, and Pinball are candidates to set a contested pace.

Others who figure to take advantage of that include This Hard Limit, Crafty Dreamer, and Bernardo.