Together Indy, rallying winner of the Commonwealth Stakes (gr. II) last month at Keeneland, returns to Polytrack to face six rivals in the $150,000 Vigil Stakes (Can-III) May 9 at Woodbine.
A son of Not For Love, Together Indy notched his first stakes win in the seven-furlong Commonwealth April 10, and will stay at that distance in the Vigil, which is the feature on Woodbine’s 10-race card. He will share top weight of 123 pounds with Field Commission , who won last year’s Vigil by 1 1/2 lengths, and Canadian champion Fatal Bullet.
Together Indy made his first start over a synthetic surface in the Commonwealth, getting up in the final strides under Kent Desormeaux to score the victory. Desormeaux will fly in for the mount once again. George Weaver trains the dark bay/brown colt for R.A. Hill Stable and Vic Fontana. He was bred in New Jersey by Rock Talk Farm.
Together Indy is out of the A.P. Indy mare I Ain’t P T and owns a record of 3-1-1 from seven starts,
Five-year-old Field Commission has made all 20 of his lifetime starts at Woodbine, 16 of them on the main track. The Ontario-bred son of Service Stripe came from off the pace to win the 2009 Vigil at odds of 22-1 under Tyler Pizarro. Patrick Husbands will ride this time for co-owner/trainer Daniel Vella.
Field Commission, who also scored the Nearctic (Can-IIT) on turf last season and has won six times, has never been worse than second in four starts at the seven-furlong distance.
Also in the field is Fatal Bullet, the runner-up of the 2008 Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) en route to Horse of the Year honors in Canada that season. The 5-year-old Red Bullet gelding makes his season debut after finishing sixth in last year’s BC Sprint. His 2009 campaign included wins in the Bold Venture Stakes at Woodbine and Phoenix Stakes (gr. III) at Keeneland.
Reade Baker trains Fatal Bullet for Bear Stables. Eurico Rosa da Silva keeps the mount.
$200,000 Vigil Stakes (gr. III, Race 8, 4:25 p.m.), 4 & Up, 7 Furlongs (Polytrack)
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Grazettes Landing (ON), C Fraser, 119, M E Casse
2. Field Commission (ON), P Husbands, 123, D J Vella
3. Hollywood Hit (OK), J McAleney, 119, T Jordan
4. Fatal Bullet (FL), E R Da Silva, 121, R Baker
5. Awesome Rhythm (KY), T Pizarro, 119, J A Ross
6. Together Indy (NJ), K J Desormeaux, 123, G Weaver
7. Signature Red (KY), C Sutherland, 117, S C Attard