Commendable Tries to Prove He’s Not a One-Race Wonder

Commendable, who has done nothing in his last three races to discourage the skeptics who belittled his June win in the Belmont Stakes, gets another chance today. At least the colt has only five other horses to beat in the $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, but one of them is Tiznow, who ran a strong race against older horses at Del Mar, and even Commendable’s usually rosy jockey, Pat Day, doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic about their chances.

“The horse hasn’t stepped up to the plate,” Day said. “He hasn’t fired the way he did in the Belmont. He’s shown some moments of brilliance, but it’s a matter of getting it together on race day. Maybe he’ll hit a home run for us this time.”

The Belmont field disintegrated when Fusaichi Pegasus, the Kentucky Derby winner, and Red Bullet, the Preakness winner, both dropped out. That reduced the Triple Crown’s windup race to a consolation round and paved the way for Commendable, whose only previous win had come against maidens about 10 months earlier .

“We were forwardly placed in the Belmont,” Day said of Commendable’s 18-1 upset. “We were able to set an extremely slow pace, and then he was able to hold off the closers.”

Commendable’s record is two wins out of 11 starts. Since the Belmont, he has been unable to get the lead, finishing ahead of only one horse in the Dwyer at Belmont Park and the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park. Then in his last start he was a well-beaten third in the Travers at Saratoga.

At 2-1, Commendable is no better than third choice on the morning line, with the favorites being Tiznow, at 6-5, and Mass Market, who’s 9-5. Others in the field are Chris’s Bad Boy, Clever Brick and White Star, who has been supplemented into the field at a cost of $15,000.

Wayne Lukas, who trains Commendable for Beverly and Bob Lewis, won the Super Derby in 1996 with Editor’s Note, who had also flattened out after winning the Belmont.

Tiznow, unraced as a 2-year-old, broke his maiden in a big way in his third start, at Hollywood Park in May, and since then has put together three solid stakes efforts. Trainer Jay Robbins saddled him for a victory over Dixie Union--the eventual Haskell winner--in the Affirmed Handicap, and after that came two seconds, to Captain Steve in the Swaps and against Skimming in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Chris McCarron, who rode Tiznow for the first time in the Pacific Classic, has the mount again today.

There are two other Derbies being run today, the $100,000 Pomona Derby at Fairplex Park and the $150,000 Bay Meadows Breeders’ Cup Derby.

The Bay Meadows race, at 1 1/8 miles on grass, features Walkslikeaduck, another improving 3-year-old whose first stakes win came on Sept. 10 in the Del Mar Derby. Among his five rivals is Jokerman, a Neil Drysdale trainee who was a promising French import until he hurt his knee in his last race, the El Camino Real Derby in March.

At Fairplex, the focus is on Spicy Stuff, who won a small stake at Del Mar after his stablemate, Captain Steve, and Tiznow wore him out in the Swaps. Martin Pedroza, gunning for his second straight Fairplex riding title, will ride Spicy Stuff for the first time.

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The $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf, to be run at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, could use a couple of European standouts like Montjeu and Sinndar, but whether they run in the U.S. after their showdown Sunday in the Arc de Triomphe, France’s premier race, will be determined later. Montjeu won the Arc last year, then passed on the Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park, but Churchill, where the weather will be cooler, might be sufficient inducement this time.

Horse Racing Notes

Lazy Slusan, ridden by David Flores, won Friday’s $96,000 Las Madrinas Handicap by two lengths, spoiling Feverish’s bid to win the stake for the second straight year. Trained by John Dolan, Lazy Slusan has won both of her starts--the other a stake at Del Mar--since she was claimed for $62,500 from trainer Mike Machowsky on July 29. Feverish, who finished second in the five-horse field, had been undefeated in three starts at Fairplex.