Woodbine: Field Commission sidelined for months

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Field Commission, who has been a stalwart in the sprint division here through his last two campaigns, is on the shelf and may miss the entire season.

“He had some problems after his last race last year,” said Danny Vella, who trains Field Commission and owns the 6-year-old Ontario-bred horse in partnership with Edward Seltzer. “We started him up this spring, but he just wasn’t himself.

“It’s cannon bone bruising. It’s a side effect of harder tracks and Polytrack. We’re 99 percent sure he’ll get over this. Depending on how things go we’ll race him in the fall or next year.”

Field Commission has won a stakes race on both turf and Polytrack and placed in seven other stakes while banking $1,055,628 from 28 career starts.

Hollinger’s long-awaited comeback

Hollinger, who was Canada’s champion 2-year-old male in 2009 but then was derailed on the road to the Queen’s Plate and sent to the farm in midsummer, is scheduled to start out on the comeback trail in Sunday’s ninth race at Keeneland. Bred in Ontario by his owners, Bob Harvey and Al Wortzman, Hollinger has been entered in a classified allowance at 1 1/16 miles on the turf course.

Roger Attfield, who trains Hollinger, has the Stronach Stable runner Don Cavallo in the same race.

Harvey, Wortzman and Attfield also will be represented on Keeneland’s card by Stormy Rush, a Kentucky-bred 3-year-old who will go in a second-level allowance at one mile on the turf. Stormy Rush was entered in Keeneland’s Transylvania on opening day but was scratched with an eye toward this race. Gordon Ledson also shares ownership in Stormy Rush.

Kurogane, one of two Chiefswood Stable homebreds who are at Keeneland for trainer Ian Black, is slated to contest a 1 1/16-mile maiden race on Sunday’s card. Nominated for the Queen’s Plate, Kurogane finished third in his only start last year for Paul Attard and will be back in Attard’s barn when he returns to Woodbine.