Field Commission giving two turns another shot in Seagram Cup

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Field Commission, last year’s Canadian champion sprinter, will experiment around two turns Sunday at Woodbine in the Grade 3, $150,000 Seagram Cup Stakes.

Field Commission is winless in four starts at the meet, but he didn’t finish worse than fourth in those four stakes. His best effort this year was a runner-up placing in the Grade 3 Connaught Cup behind Grand Adventure, who subsequently won the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes.

“He’s hasn’t run a bad race this year,” said trainer Danny Vella. “He’s a pretty legit horse. He runs every time.”

Field Commission’s lone two-turn try, in an allowance on Polytrack in 2008, resulted in a distant third-place finish at the Seagram distance of 1 1/16 miles.

“He trains and acts like he should go that far,” said Vella. “When he went long as a 3-year-old, he was a very green horse at the time. As he’s gotten older, he hasn’t shown as much speed as he used to, so maybe he’s asking us to do that. It’s very hard to decipher between a come-from-behind sprinter and a route horse. You have to take your best guess, and give it a try.”

Eurico Da Silva will ride Field Commission, who is taking the blinkers off.

In a small field without a regular front-runner, Sand Cove figures to lead the way. He earned a 100 Beyer Figure while trouncing Ontario-sired opponents June 12 in the mile and a sixteenth Steady Growth Stakes.

Sand Cove tracked a tepid pace before tiring to third when trainer Roger Attfield moved him over to the grass July 11 in the seven-furlong Ontario Jockey Club Stakes. The OJC runner-up, Grazettes Landing, returned to win the Shepperton Stakes.

Stretch runner Pool Play was beaten a head by American shipper Hold Me Back in his last race going a mile and a quarter in Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes. A slow pace hindered his chances when wound up sixth in his previous start in the Grade 3 Eclipse Stakes.

Pool Play’s trainer, Mark Casse, said he’s concerned with the lack of pace in the Seagram, and is hoping that Stunning Stage shows more early foot than usual and presses Sand Cove.

Stunning Stag was supplemented to the race at a cost of $3,000. He finished second to Southdale in the mile and a sixteenth Eclipse, but was a flat fourth in the Dominion Day.

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