Prevalence emerges from Commonwealth win in good order

Prevalence, long well regarded, appears to be on an upswing that saw him notch his first graded stakes victory on Saturday at Keeneland.

The Godolphin homebred won the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 98. That figure is just shy of the career-best 99 he posted in an allowance-level win in March at Gulfstream Park.

On Sunday morning at Keeneland, trainer Brendan Walsh said that Prevalence - and his other two Saturday winners, including maiden victor Emirates Road, a half-brother to Prevalence - emerged in good order.

"All good, he's fine," Walsh said. "They all look good this morning - please God they come out of it OK the next couple days, and we'll go on to the next one."

Immediately post-race on Saturday, Dan Pride, the chief operating officer for Godolphin U.S.A., mentioned the Grade 1, $750,000 Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 7 as a possible next start for Prevalence. Sunday morning, Walsh concurred.

“You would think that would be the obvious next one, wouldn’t it?” Walsh said. “But we’ll see. I would think so. They’ve got that horse in New York that ran really well, too – I’m sure they’ll be trying to keep them apart.”

The ‘horse in New York’ is Godolphin homebred Speaker’s Corner, who impressively won the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on Saturday at Aqueduct. Bill Mott, who trains that colt, indicated that his target is the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard June 11.

Walsh’s other stakes starter on Saturday at Keeneland was The Lir Jet, who finished fifth behind heavy favorite Golden Pal in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes for turf sprinters. The Lir Jet was making his first start since winning the Grade 2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes last September at Kentucky Downs.

“I thought he ran well,” Walsh said. “He was a little slow out of the gate, and the ground might have been a little on the easy side for him – I don’t know that he needs fast ground, but I think he’d like it to be a little dryer than what it was. But he ran well – you take out the winner, who’s an exceptionally good horse, and he wasn’t too far behind anybody else. It was a decent first start off the long layoff – I’m sure we’ll have better things to come this year from him, too.”