Mr. Commons to miss La Jolla Stakes because of sore foot, as Midnight Interlude inherits the favourite role
The John Shirreffs trained 3-year-old colt Mr. Commons will be sidelined in the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap on 13 August, 2011 at Del Mar because the colt bruised his fool whole in training and will not be able to run in the race. In his absence, the Grade
1 Santa Anita Derby winner, Midnight Interlude, becomes the favourite to win the Handicap race at Del Mar.
The Grade 2 La Jolla Stakes will draw a field of seven horses, and it will be run on 1 1/16 miles on turf for three-year-olds.
The Artie Schiller colt, Mr. Commons, went on to win his first stakes race in his 3rd year of racing at Del Mar, when he won the 1 mile Oceanside Stakes on 20 July, 2011.
Mr. Commons, under M Smith, ran a good mile and downed his opponents, Burns and Extensive by a considerable margin as they clocked in 1 minute and 34.96 seconds.
Recently the 3-year-old colt has been having trouble with his sore foot and he has been battling it out for quite some time now.
On 8 August, 2011, trainer John Shirreffs made Mr. Commons to take the synthetic Poly track surface for a training session to assess the condition of his foot, but he wasn’t satisfied with what he saw.
The condition of the foot, made his connections to scratch him out of the La Jolla Handicap after watching Mr. Commons jog and gallop. The colt showed signs of pain in his foot, and it was very visible because whenever he jogged, he was sensitive.
Son of Artie Schiller, Mr. Commons is out of Joustabout by Apalachee. The colt is owned by St. George Farm Racing and was bred in Kentucky.
The John Sherriffs trained colt has had six starts altogether in his 2-year-old racing career, and he has won 3 out of 6 with the earnings of $253,660.
Earlier this year, on 9 April, 2011, Mr. Commons participated in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita under jockey V Espinoza and the colt finished 3rd to the winner Midnight Interlude in the 1 1/8 miles event.
Mr. Commons also participated in the Preakness Stakes, but fell away among the elite horses and finished eighth on the day.
After the Oceanside Stakes win, the trainer John Shirreffs had his eye on the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap as the main goal for his colt. The race runs on 4 September, 2011 and will likely be the next start for Mr. Commons.
Meanwhile, in the absence of Mr. Commons, Midnight Interlude has taken the favourites place in the La Jolla Stakes. Previously, the 3-year-old son of War Chant participated in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, but registered a stakes win over
at a mile in Tsunami Slew Stakes at Hollywood Park.
The Grade 2 La Jolla Stakes will draw a field of seven horses, and it will be run on 1 1/16 miles on turf for three-year-olds.
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