Occasional View regroups, wins Commonwealth

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Occasional View essentially paid for himself when rebounding off a poor last start to notch his first stakes victory Saturday in the Grade 3, $175,000 Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland.

With Alan Garcia riding for owner Robert Trussell and trainer Ken McPeek, Occasional View surged past front-running Dimension to win the seven-furlong race by a length. He paid $11 as second choice after finishing in 1:22.77 over Polytrack.

Trussell claimed Occasional View last fall at Keeneland for $100,000, and the now-6-year-old gelding had gone winless in three subsequent starts.

But regrouped following a 28-length defeat in a January race at Oaklawn Park, Occasional View returned with a vengeance, rallying from ninth to overtake Dimension, who had led from the start. Laugh Track, the 9-5 favorite, was up late for third, with Quiet Force fourth.

“When it was time to make a run, I said I’m going to go wide,” said Garcia. “The horse did the rest.”

“Bobby Trussell deserves all the credit,” said McPeek. “He wanted to scratch out of a race we were in Thursday, and we did, so obviously it worked out.”

Ol Army, entered back for Wednesday, was an early scratch, leaving a field of 10 older horses.

The $2 exacta (9-3) paid $81.20, the $1 trifecta (9-3-1) returned $132.10, and the 10-cent superfecta (9-3-1-6) was worth $123.35.