WinStar’s brilliant homebred 4-year-old colt finished his career in style with a 2 ½-length win in the Hawthorne Gold Cup (G2) on Saturday evening.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Commissioner, a son of A.P. Indy, now ships to WinStar to prepare for a career at stud. Second by a head in the 2014 Belmont S. (G1), Commissioner retired with a career record of 5-3-2 from 15 starts and earnings of $962,237. Commissioner also collected victories in the Pimlico Special (G3) and Skip Away S. (G3).
Ridden for the first time by Florent Geroux, Commissioner went off the 4-5 favorite and did not disappoint his backers. Geroux had Commissioner in third early, then inched up on the turn and took over after straightening for home, bounding away in the final furlong for a convincing win (VIDEO).
Commissioner was timed in 2:02.09 for 1 1/4 miles on a “good” track.
“I wasn’t worried,” said Geroux, who has won a riding title at Hawthorne. “I knew one of them (pacesetters) would back up, and I was two wide into the far turn. He’s a big horse, and he takes time to get going, but once he gets in a rhythm, he’s very strong. At the three-eighths pole, he was just warming up.”
Commissioner, whose lifetime earnings top sons of A.P. Indy such as Pulpit, Malibu Moon and Flatter, will stand the 2016 season at WinStar for $7,500 live foal.
