WinStar Farm’s Commissioner, the runner-up in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (G1), was discovered to have a small chip in his front left ankle Monday, and the 3-year-old son of A.P. Indy is scheduled this week for a small surgical procedure to have it removed by Dr. Bramlage at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY.
“Commissioner was sent back to WinStar Farm on Sunday for a brief freshening before targeting the major late-summer 3-year-old races. The first day back he looked good, but on the second day he had some filling in his left ankle,” said 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 ½-mile classic before finishing second by a head at the wire. The grand-looking colt earned a 100 Beyer for the performance, marking a career best.
Prior to the Belmont, Commissioner was also the runner-up to Tonalist in the Peter Pan S. (G2) at Belmont, and his current form made him a rising sophomore to watch heading into the second half of the year.
“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. But the good news is the chip is in a favorable spot, and we expect him to be back to 100% soon. We’ve always been very high on Commissioner, and he’s only going to continue to get better and better,” added Walden.
Commissioner broke his maiden at Saratoga as a 2-year-old, and started his 3-year-old campaign off with an allowance victory over the highly-regarded Top Billing at Gulfstream.
The regally-bred Commissioner has a record of 2-3-1 from eight starts with earnings of $515,767 to date. From the final crop of legendary sire A.P. Indy, Commissioner is out of the multiple stakes-winning Touch Gold mare Flaming Heart, and is a half-brother to current Grade 3 winner and 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) runner-up Laugh Track.
