Commentator First Time By in the Whitney

            From TDN:

  Left alone on the lead, Commentator made every pole a winning one to add another Whitney trophy following his memorable success in 2005, when he defeated eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam by a neck. In doing so, he became the first runner to win two renewals of this marquee affair since the venerable Kelso, who won in 1961, 1963 and 1965. "This is a special win for me," exclaimed winning trainer Nick Zito. "This has to be up there with the greatest of them all. I am thankful to have a horse of this caliber." Zito added, "He gets in that league with Kelso and Forego, which I wanted him to be in so they couldn't take him out." At age seven, Commentator is second only to Kelso, who was eight when he won his third Whitney.
   Commentator was limited to just two starts at five in 2006, dusting New York-breds in the Mugatea S. before faltering to 10th as the 4-5 chalk in the GI Forego S. After another triumph against state-breds to kick off 2007, the chestnut came up short against the nation's best sprinters, finishing sixth in the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint Oct. 27. But he seems to have discovered the fountain of youth this season. The New York-bred set a track record at Gulfstream in a one-mile optional claimer in his Jan. 17 return; his 119 Beyer Speed Figure remains the highest achieved to date in 2008. A 13 3/4-length winner of the GII Richter Scale H. at 1-5 Mar. 8, he battled through a :44 2/5 half in the GI Met Mile before succumbing late to Divine Park, and settled for second. Commentator continued to train smartly on the Oklahoma track, and went postward as the 4-1 second choice to Solar Flare (Salt Lake). The 120-pound highweight scampered away from his rail post and was allowed a cushion through splits of :24.16 and :47.73. Solar Flare tried to cut into that margin on the far turn, but began to fade in the lane, and Commentator opened up once more under a few unnecessary taps from John Velazquez. "He got to the front, and that was it," said Velazquez. "He ran just as big as he did three years ago." Zito added, "He's an amazing horse. I think the theme should be, ‘If you get old, don't give up.' This is a seven-year-old gelding winning this kind of race against this kind of field--there were 11 horses in this field. This was no easy race, and he was carrying the top weight." Student Council, well back early, put in a solid five-wide rally to finish second best. "We ran a very good race," said trainer Steve Asmussen. "Commentator, as usual at Saratoga, was very effective. Everybody made a run at him, but when he cut the corner, he was just gone."
   

Taken on: July 26, 2008

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