Commissioner gets his graded win in $150,000 Skip Away S. (G3)

WinStar Farm’s multiple graded stakes performing homebred Commissioner battled his way to his first stakes victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Skip Away S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

In what ultimately turned out to be a very thrilling race, Commissioner broke on top but acquiesced to Sr. Quisqueyano going into the first turn. After the pacesetter carving out six furlongs in 1:13.81, Javier Castellano moved Commissioner to take up the challenge.

Outside the quarter pole, the pair were side by side and ran that way the length of the stretch, with Commissioner holding about a half of a head advantage on the line. He got the 1 3/16-miles in 1:58.60.

“We knew Sr. Quisqueyano is a tough horse to get by,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Javier gave him a good ride. This horse has been knocking on the door for a while. We’re happy to get a graded stakes with him, so that he could have a spot in the WinStar stallion barn. These A.P. Indy’s, we know they just get better with age. We’ll probably point to the Brooklyn (G2, at Belmont Park on June 6), the only question is whether we run before that or not.” 

Commissioner’s tough-luck career has seen him run second in both the Belmont S. (G1) and Peter Pan S. (G2) last year. He is now 3-3-2 in 11 starts and has earned $617,237.

Commissioner is out of the multiple stakes winner Flaming Heart, by Touch Gold, and is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Laugh Track.