2008 Whitney Handicap Winner

March 27 - Commentator

Everybody knows about the gelding that won the Kentucky Derby named Funny Cide but also in the first crops of Distorted Humor was this guy that was also gelded - Commentator. He would go on to run in the biggest race at Saratoga for older horses, the Whitney Handicap, and he won it twice. He's a true Spa Legend and later, he would be a poster boy for Old Friends in New York.

Commentator was one of the most beloved New York bred horses of the modern era, a tough, fast, front running gelding who twice won the most important older horse race at Saratoga. He was a chestnut born in March of 2001 and bred in New York by Michael Martinez. His sire was Distorted Humor, who would go on to sire the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide, another New York connection that fit Commentator's story perfectly. His dam was Outsource, by Storm Bird, the Irish and English Champion Two Year Old of 1980. He was bought as a weanling for 45,000 dollars and then resold to Tracy Farmer for 135,000 dollars at the Fasig Tipton Kentucky sale in 2002. He was sent to Hall of Famer Nick Zito to train, the same New York trainer who would later upset Smarty Jones in the Belmont Stakes with Birdstone.

He came to the races a winner. He started with five straight victories, including a ten and a half length romp in his debut at Saratoga and a track record performance in the Perryville Stakes at Keeneland. His career hit its first peak in the 2005 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, the most prestigious older horse race in the country, where he set demanding fractions and held off future Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year Saint Liam by a neck. That win launched Commentator into the big time. After a few setbacks, he came back to deliver an even more impressive second Whitney Handicap in 2008, leading from the start and winning by nearly five lengths against another deep field. He followed that performance with a 14 length romp in the final running of the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs, one of the most lopsided wins of the year. He was twice voted New York Horse of the Year, and was a fan favorite at Saratoga every summer he raced.

He retired with 14 wins from 24 starts and earnings of just under 2.05 million dollars, the tenth highest total ever for a New York bred. He spent his retirement at Old Friends at Cabin Creek, the satellite farm of Old Friends Equine outside Saratoga Springs. He was honored frequently at the Spa, with NYRA holding several days in his honor, and he greeted fans at the farm for years until his death in 2025. Commentator is the kind of horse who keeps the heart of New York racing beating. He was a homebred state bred who became a two time winner of the Whitney, the kind of grand old gelding who got better with age, and the kind of personality who made fans drive out to Cabin Creek just to feed him a peppermint. The annual Commentator Stakes at Belmont Park was renamed in his honor, and his name remains in the program every summer to remind racing fans of one of the truest fan favorites the sport has had in years.

Sources:

• Commentator (horse), Wikipedia

• Two-Time Whitney Winner Commentator Euthanized, Thoroughbred Daily News

• Old Friends at Cabin Creek announces passing of two-time G1 Whitney-winner Commentator, NYTB

• Commentator Up to Old Tricks in Whitney, BloodHorse

• Commentator, Old Friends Equine