Mr. Commons' return to turf earns him the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar and high praise from jockey Mike Smith
After flirting with the Triple Crown, the son of Artie Schiller, Mr. Commons, came to Del Mar and achieved instant success as the 3-year-old colt scored an impressive victory in the $112,100 Oceanside Stakes.
On the opening day at Del Mar, Mr. Commons swooped past his rival and defeated Burns by 1 ½ lengths.
A record breaking crowd at Del Mar witnessed Mr. Commons' emphatic victory under jockey Mike Smith. Del Mar race course official attendance was 46,588 on 20 July.
Trained by John Shirreffs for St. George Farm Racing, Mr. Commons broke his maiden on grass at Santa Anita on 15 January, 2011, the only time he ran on grass.
Under Mike Smith, the pair travelled the 6 ½ furlongs event in 1 minute 12.14 seconds, as they came out victorious at the end of the race, defeating Akkadian, who finished second.
This was Mr. Commons' second attempt at the Maiden Special Weight, his first one was on synthetic surface at Hollywood Park on 18 December, 2010.
After the turf win, trainer John Shirreffs decided to run the three-year-old colt on a dirt track in an allowance race at Santa Anita on 26 February, 2011.
It was the longest distance Mr. Commons had run under his usual ride, Mike Smith. With 1 mile to run, the pair breezed past the lot to register another easy victory defeating Hollywood Heist. The distance was covered in 1 minute and 34.84 seconds.
The dirt affair continued, as the colt entered his first grade 1 race the Santa Anita Derby at the Santa Anita race course on 9 April, 2011, run at a distance of 1 1/8 miles.
It was a thriller as Mr. Commons gave it his all 2 furlongs out, but couldn’t track the leaders down as he finished a good third in his first big race, finishing behind Comma to the Top and the winner Midnight Interlude.
The Grade 1 Preakness Stakes was the next target, but run at a distance of 1 3/16 miles, the Pimlico reeled in a start studded line up, which proved to be too much for Mr. Commons to contain, with the likes of Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom, and Shackleford,
who went on to win the Preakness Stakes.
The nine horse field at Del Mar tracked Mr. Commons almost throughout the race, as Burns rallied for second with the champion colt stride by stride. Extensive at third, both never looked in contention to overtake Mr. Commons at any point.
Jockey Mike Smith was all praise for the colt after the race, as the horse completed his last quarter of a mile in mere 23 seconds. Smith drew high praise and compared the colt with Lure, a two time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner.
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