by Mike Curry
Three years after his most important career victory at Saratoga Race Course, Commentator returned to the New York track on Saturday and dispatched ten rivals in a visually impressive 4 3/4-length victory in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap (G1).
The seven-year-old Distorted Humor gelding earned his only previous Grade 1 win in the 2005 Whitney, in which he defeated eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam by a neck in a thrilling finish.
Trained by Nick Zito for owner Tracy Farmer, Commentator picked up his third win in four starts this season and boosted his career earnings to $1,541,936. He joined five-time Horse of the Year Kelso and Discovery as the only horses to win multiple editions of the Whitney.
Commentator earned a starting spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with the Whitney victory as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series.
“This was no easy race and he was carrying the top weight [120 pounds]. It was a tremendous effort,” Zito said. “This is a special win for me. This has to be up there with the greatest of them all. I am thankful to have a horse of this caliber.”
Throughout his career, Commentator has proven to be a tough competitor when allowed to set an uncontested pace and he was unchallenged on the lead in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney.
Commentator set a measured pace under John Velazquez through an opening quarter in :24.16 and a half-mile in :47.73. When Solar Flare (Arg) rallied ahead to challenge on the far turn, Commentator shook free with a decisive move approaching the stretch. He opened a commanding lead in early stretch and coasted to a comfortable win in 1:50.23 on a track rated as fast.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Student Council closed from tenth under Shaun Bridgmohan but had too much real estate to make up to mount a serious threat. Student Council finished 8½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Grasshopper. Solar Flare, sent off as the 3.60-to-1 favorite, faded to seventh.
Commentator won his season debut by 14 lengths in January at Gulfstream Park and followed with a 13 3/4-length win on March 8 at Gulfstream Park in the Richter Scale Sprint Handicap (G2), which was his first graded stakes win since the 2005 Whitney.
“This is a good illustration to anyone—don’t ever give up,” Zito said. “This is one of the greatest feats of all time. He gets in that league with Kelso and Forego, which I wanted him to be in so they couldn’t take him out. He’s in that special league. He’s an amazing horse. I think the theme should be, ‘If you get old, don’t give up.’ ”
Bred in New York by Michael Martinez, Commentator is out of the unraced Storm Bird mare Outsource.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor