Commissioner scheduled for surgery to remove ankle chip

WinStar Farm's Commissioner, runner-up in last

Saturday's Belmont Stakes, was discovered to have a small chip in his front

left ankle Monday. The three-year-old son of A.P. Indy is scheduled for surgery

this week to have it removed by Dr. Bramlage at Rood &

Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Commissioner was sent back to WinStar Farm on Sunday for a

brief freshening before targeting the major late-summer three-year-old races. The

first day back he looked good, but on the second day he had some filling in his

left ankle," explained Elliott Walden, WinStar's president & CEO.

"We took X-rays and

discovered he had a small lateral P1 chip that Dr. Bramlage said would be very

easy to take out. He'll obviously get the proper recovery time, but there's a

good chance Commissioner will be able to return by the fall."

Commissioner turned in his best career performance to date in last Saturday's

final jewel of the Triple Crown, leading every step of the way in the 1 1/2-mile

classic before finishing second by a head to winner Tonalist on the wire. The

bay colt

earned a 108 BRIS Speed rating for the performance, marking a career best.

Prior to the Belmont, Commissioner was also the runner-up to Tonalist in the

Peter Pan at Belmont, and he was third in the Sunland Derby over the spring.

"It's always disappointing when you have a setback with such a talented and

improving colt like Commissioner, especially with races like the Haskell and

Travers around the corner. I believe he was set to have a big summer," Walden

added.

"But the

good news is the chip is in a favorable spot, and we expect him to be back to

100 percent soon. We've always been very high on Commissioner, and he's only

going to continue to get better and better."

Commissioner broke his maiden at Saratoga as a two-year-old, and started his

sophomore campaign off with an allowance victory over the highly-regarded Top

Billing at Gulfstream.

Commissioner, who has a record of 2-3-1 from eight starts with

earnings of $515,767 to date, is from the final crop of A.P. Indy and out of the

Grade 3-placed, multiple stakes-winning Touch Gold mare Flaming

Heart. That makes him a half-brother to current Grade 3 winner and 2013 Breeders' Cup

Sprint runner-up Laugh Track.

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