Zito has plenty to say about Commentator

Not even strep throat could keep Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito from talking up his sensational 7-year-old gelding Commentator.

Zito was on hand at Churchill Downs on Thursday as Commentator breezed through a half-mile work in :48.60, the ninth-fastest of 61 horses that day at the distance.

It was the first work for the son of Distorted Humor since arriving in Kentucky on Nov. 12. He had been based with Zito’s string at the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs, located across Union Avenue from Saratoga Race Course.

“I was very happy with it. Very happy,” Zito said by phone from Kentucky this week. “We always watch him carefully, and he’s done everything that we want him to do. He rebounded nicely from his last race and, for him, the more time the better. Everything is good right now.”

Zito is pointing the New York-bred Commentator for the Grade II $400,000 Clark Handicap, the highlight of Churchill’s 26-day fall meet, to be run on Friday.

Owned by Kentucky native

Tracy Farmer, Commentator is one of 26 horses nominated to the Clark, where he is expected to go off as the favorite. Entries will be drawn Tuesday.

“He’s doing super,” Zito said. “He’s great. He looks like he’s got his strength, and all signs are good. Let’s hope everything stays good.”

Commentator has won four of five starts this year, including his second career victory in the Grade I Whitney Handicap July 26 at Saratoga, three years after his first. He became the second-oldest horse to win the 81-year-old race behind Hall of Famer Kelso, who was 8 when he did it for the third time in 1965.

Following the Whitney, Zito ran Commentator in the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap on Sept. 20, both because of the race’s timing and history and the stance taken by Suffolk Downs, which this year adopted a zero-tolerance policy banning any horseman who sells a horse for slaughter.

An overwhelming favorite, Commentator cruised to a 14-length victory in the MassCap, running 11⁄8 miles in 1:48.97.

“For me, that was one of the greatest races that I had participated in,” Zito said. “John Hettinger had just died. He was one of my mentors and friends, and my longest owner. He gave his life, literally, for horses.

“This nonsense of horse slaughter is insane. It is absolutely the most disgusting thing I’ve heard of. Sure, you don’t want a million horses around, but let me tell you something. We have an obligation to do the right thing, and that man gave his life for that. I dedicated that race to him, and it was great. What Commentator did was speak for a lot of people.”

Commentator has overcome several physical problems throughout his career, including multiple cannon bone fractures, and retained his blazing speed. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 120 in the Whitney, his third time at 120 or higher. His average margin of victory is 10 lengths.

“He’s very, very special, obviously,” Zito said. “He’s just amazing. With all the injuries he’s had, it’s just an amazing thing.”

Zito is enjoying the renaissance with older horses such as Commentator and Wanderin Boy, also 7, who he is pointing to the Grade I Cigar Mile next Saturday at Aqueduct.

“I got the reputation as a Derby trainer or Triple Crown trainer, Travers, whatever you’re supposed to do,” Zito said. “That is how we make our living, and that is how we’ve made our reputation.

“But I am into this older horse thing now. I really like this. For me, I think the more older hores I have, the happier I’m going to be.”

Zito and Farmer plan to bring Commentator back as an 8-year-old, and they already have the Whitney in mind. Commentator is one of only three horses with multiple Whitney victories, following Discovery (1934-35) and Kelso (1961, 1963, 1965).

“It’s a broken record, but we want him around for as long as we can,” Zito said. “Our goal for next year, believe it or not, is to win the Whitney and, hopefully, he’ll join some of the great geldings of all time. For us, that would be a tremendous thing.”

RECORD SETTERS

Trainer Mike Maker won his 21st race at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, establishing a fall meet record for victories.

A former assistant to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Maker broke the mark of 20 set by Dale Romans from 78 starts in 2003, when the meet was 27 days.

Maker, 39, picked up No. 21 with his 54th starter, One-Eyed Joker, in the eighth race. The 26-day meet concludes Nov. 29.

“It’s great for this to happen in my hometown,” Maker said. “I’ve been a fan of Churchill Downs since I was a kid, and it means a lot. To be honest, I didn’t really think about it unitl I saw an article in the paper. I thought it would be a great accomplishment.”

One-Eyed Joker is owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, extending their meet record to 17 wins. The Ramseys set the standard with Ya Think on Nov. 15, their 16th victory, coming on the meet’s 16th day.

The previous fall meet record was set in 1965 by T. Alie Grissom during a 23-day meet.

“I’m on top of the world,” Ken Ramsey said.

WOOLF FINALISTS

A pair of New York regulars and a Kentucky Derby winner are among the five finalists for the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, bestowed by their fellow riders.

John Velazquez, 36, and Javier Castellano, 31, join Calvin Borel, Gary Baze and David Flores as Woolf candidates.

Presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950, the award recognizes riders whose careers and personal character bring honor to themselves and their sport.

Borel, 40, won the 2007 Derby with Street Sense. Baze, 53, has become an icon in his native state of Washington. Flores, 40, is among southern California’s top riders.

Announced in January, the Woolf Award is presented in late March or early April. The 2008 winner was Richard Migliore.

WEEKEND STAKES

Wishful Tomcat, a late-blooming 3-year-old with four wins in his last five starts, takes a step up in company in today’s Grade III $100,000 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct.

Trained by Gary Contessa, Wishful Tomcat won a Saratoga allowance at the same nine-furlong distance Aug. 11. He will break from the rail in the eight-horse field.

Also entered are Grade III Tampa Bay Derby winner Big Truck, beaten a head by Wishful Tomcat in the Floral Park Stakes Sept. 24; Grade III West Virginia Derby winner Ready Set; and Lieutenant Ron, an impressive optional claiming allowance winner last time out for Saratoga leading trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

At Churchill Downs, defending race champion and Grade I winner Thorn Song will attempt to overcome outside post 11 in the Grade III $100,000 River City Handicap on turf.

Same Old Wish (1996-97) and Dr. Kashnikow (2001-02) are the only repeat River City winners. Thorn Song will carry jockey Robby Albarado and highweight of 122 pounds.

Also in the field are Thorn Song’s Dale Romans-trained stablemate, Yate’s Black Cat, and Steve’s Double, winner of Keeneland’s Grade III Perryville last year.

Unraced since finishing 16th in the Kentucky Derby, Bob Black Jack makes his return facing older horses for the first time in the Grade III $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood at Hollywood Park.

Bob Black Jack holds the North American record for six furlongs, the Underwood distance, having won the Sunshine Millions Dash in 1:06.53 in January over the former Cushion Track surface at Santa Anita. It is the same surface used at Hollywood.

Trained by Jim Kasparoff, Bob Black Jack ran second to Travers Stakes winner Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby this year. Among his rivals are Grade I winner Johnny Evs and Grade II winner Noble Court.

On Sunday, Hollywood hosts the Grade III $100,000 Prevue for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs, while Aqueduct serves up a pair of $65,000 listed stakes: the Itaka for state-bred 3-year-olds and up at a mile, and the Star de Lady Anne at six furlongs for 3-year-old fillies who haven’t won a graded stakes this year.

AROUND THE TRACKS

- Multiple graded-stakes winner J Be K, 5-for-9 in his career including an eye-popping debut victory at Saratoga last summer, has been retired, and will stand at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky next year for a fee of $10,000.

- Veteran exercise rider Ignacio Ramirez was killed when his horse got spooked on her way to the track, flipped and fell on him Sunday morning at Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco. Ramirez was 58.

- Undefeated filly Zenyatta may parade on the track as part of a special day for her Nov. 30 at Hollywood Park, where she is based with trainer John Shirreffs. Zenyatta is in the midst of a 60-day break from training following her victory in the Breeder’s Cup Ladies Classic Oct. 24.

- Good Night Shirt, expected to be named Eclipse Award-winning steeplechase horse for 2008, completed a perfect season by winning the $150,000 Colonal Cup on Sunday by a neck over Preemptive Strike. All five of his wins this year were in Grade I races worth a record $485,520 in purses. He has earned $934,493 in his career.

- Tin Cup Chalice, who captured OTB’s Big Apple Triple with a victory in the Albany at Saratoga this summer, has been named Finger Lakes’ Horse of the Year. Winner of the Grade II Indiana Derby Oct. 4, Tin Cup Chalice is expected to run next in the $2.4 million Japan Cup Dirt on Dec. 7.

- Easy Grades, 13th in the 2002 Kentucky Derby, ran for a $5,000 claiming tag on Wednesday, finishing fourth in the fifth race at Churchill Downs. It was the first race in nearly a year for the 9-year-old gelding, who has changed barns 11 times in his career.

- Silver Wagon, the Grade I Hopeful winner at Saratoga in 2003, will stand at Empire Stud near Hudson for a $5,000 fee in 2009. Winner of the Grade I Carter in 2007, Silver Wagon stood at Hurricane Hall near Lexington, Ky. this year.

- Twenty-six horses were nominated for New York’s final Grade I race, the $300,000 Cigar Mile on Nov. 29. Among them are Lucky Island, Harlem Rocker and Tale of Ekati.

- Post times will be different at Aqueduct next week. Racing will begin at the regular 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday, Nov. 30, but switch to 12:25 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11:25 a.m. on Thanksgiving.