Commissioner to commence four-year-old campaign at Gulfstream

Commissioner to commence four-year-old campaign at

Gulfstream

A year after opening his three-year-old season with an optional

claiming victory at Gulfstream Park, classic-placed Commissioner looks to kick off

his four-year-old campaign in similar fashion.

The WinStar Farm homebred, trained by Todd Pletcher, drew

post four of eight horses scheduled to go 1 1/16 miles on the main track in

Saturday's

3RD race. Javier Castellano is named to ride.

It marks the first start for the bay son of A.P. Indy since

finishing second by a head to Tonalist at odds of 28-1 in the Belmont Stakes

on June 7 at Belmont Park. He had surgery to remove an ankle chip following

the race, and was given the rest of the year off.

"We gave him plenty of time, more time than he actually

needed with the idea that we'd have hopefully a fresh horse for his four-year-old

campaign," Pletcher explained. "Based on his pedigree, you would anticipate he

should be coming into his own as a four-year-old. Hopefully he has a big year

ahead of him."

Commissioner shows a steady string of works at Palm Beach

Downs for his return, most recently going five furlongs in 1:00 on January 4.

"We've been very happy with the way he's been training, and

we were looking for a race to get him back under way," Pletcher said. "He was

eligible to this so it kind of made sense as a possible prep for races down the

road which could possibly include the Donn should he run well."

The first major stakes of the year for older horses -- the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap

-- will highlight a six-stakes card at Gulfstream on

February 7.

Commissioner returned from a four-month layoff to capture a

1 1/8-mile optional claimer at Gulfstream by a neck over Top Billing

last January. He then ran in five consecutive graded stakes, finishing sixth in

the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at

Oaklawn Park, third in the

Grade 3 Sunland Derby and second to Tonalist in the Grade 2 Peter Pan immediately

prior to the Belmont.

"He ran well here once last year and then didn't seem to

run quite as well in the Fountain of Youth as we expected him to," Pletcher

stated. "At that time of the year, the track became very speed-favoring which

probably worked against his style a little bit. We're hoping that he gets back

in form and runs well here, and we'll see if that would lead him into the Donn

or look for something else."

Also entered in Saturday's 3RD race are Secretive and multiple Grade 3-placed

Ulanbator, both coming off allowance victories, as well as Dudeman, second to

Atreides in the Aventura Handicap on December 7 at Gulfstream.

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