by Phil Janack

Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito sat on a bench in the courtyard by barn 83 at Saratoga Race Course on Sunday morning with his hands clasped loosely behind his head.

Though he had changed clothes from the night before, Zito still wore the smile put on his face on Saturday by Commentator, an authoritative winner of $750,000 Whitney Handicap (G1) as a seven-year-old.

"It feels great," Zito said. "That was tremendous."

The victory was Commentator's second in the Whitney, the first coming in 2005, and fourth in six lifetime starts at Saratoga Race Course. The Distorted Humor gelding improved to 12 wins in 19 career starts and boosted his earnings to $1,541,936, of which $956,234 has come at the Spa.

Commentator earned an automatic entry to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on October 25 at Santa Anita Park. As a prep, Zito is eyeing the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap on September 20 at Suffolk Downs.

Zito feels the timing of the Massachusetts Handicap is good, giving Commentator five weeks rest prior to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A longtime horse advocate, Zito also supports Suffolk Downs’s recently adopted zero-tolerance policy, which bans any horseman who sells a horse for slaughter.

The plan, announced last month, has the full backing of Richard Fields, a real estate and casino developer who purchased a controlling interest in Suffolk Downs last year.

"I like the timing, I like what the people in Boston are doing, Mr. Fields," Zito said. "Obviously, he puts his money where his mouth is. It's good for the horse, and it's good for horses.

"Maybe the Commentator race is also running for the horse-slaughter issue. It's a run for a cause. That's what I'm going to recommend to [owner] Mr. [Tracy] Farmer, if everything is good."

Another option for Commentator is the 1 1/8-mile Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on August 30, which does not really intrigue Zito.

"The only other possibility is if he tells me to come back in the Woodward, but he already did that, so what's the difference?" Zito said. "The Woodward can't top what he did in the Whitney."

Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent