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Field Commission
SANDRA MADISON PHOTO
Florida FOCUS
Canadian Sprint Champion and Prominent Florida Sire Field Commission Dead at 15 Millionaire, multiple graded stakes-winner Field Commission died suddenly Dec. 10 in his paddock at Solera Farm, near Williston, Fla., from what appeared to be a heart attack. “He looked fine this morning and was
Compiled by Brock Sheridan playing in his paddock as he usually does when turned out,” Solera Farm managing partner and resident veterinarian Krista Seltzer said. Minutes later the chestnut stallion collapsed and died. Bred by Minshall Farms in Ontario and owned and raced by Edward Seltzer, the son of Service Stripe won or placed in 10 of 19 stakes starts (eight graded) earning $1,030,266 from ages 3 to 7. Field Commission was named Canada’s Sprint Champion as a 4-year-old, after a campaign in which he won Woodbine’s Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes and Grade 3 Vigil Stakes, and placed in four other graded races. Posting triple digit Beyers on dirt, turf and synthetic, he captured the 2012 Ponche Handicap at Calder Race Course as a 7-year-old, setting a stakes record for six furlongs in 1:09.30.
Florida-bred Thousand Words Retires
BENOIT & ASSOCIATES PHOTO
Florida-bred star Thousand Words, the undefeated Grade 2 winner as a 2-year-old and multiplestakes winner at age three, has been retired from racing and will stand stud in 2021 at B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm. Bred in Florida by Amy Tarrant’s Hardacre Farm, Thousand Words first achieved fame when he sold for $1 million at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Albaugh Family Stables LLC and Spendthrift Farm LLC, who campaigned him as a runner. That marked the first ever seven-figure yearling by sire of sires Pioneerof the Nile. He is out of the multiple Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed Florida-bred mare Pomeroys Pistol, a daughter of Pomeroy, who earned $547,678 during her career on the track. Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Thousand Words broke his maiden at first asking against special weight company as a 2-year-old at Santa Anita in October while clocking six-and-a-half furlongs in 1:16.77 before winning the mile-and-one-sixteenth Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) at Los Alamitos in December. Thousand Words opened his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita, remaining perfect in three starts before finishing fourth to stablemate and eventual Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)-winner Authentic in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita in March. He then finished second to Uncle Chuck in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4 before he defeated leading 3-year-old Honor A. P. in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1 while earning a 104 Beyer and becoming a top-five early choice for the Run for the Roses. Thousand Words then finished out of the money in the Preakness Stakes (G1) won by Swiss Skydiver before finishing his career with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Thousand Words retires with four wins and a second from nine starts, with earnings of $327,500. Florida-bred The 4-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile will become the newest stallion Thousand Words to participate in Spendthrift’s renowned “Share The Upside” program, and he’s immediately available for inspection by appointment only. The Share The Upside fee for Thousand Words will be $10,000 for one year. Additionally, breeders must breed a mare in 2022 on a complimentary basis. After the breeder has a live foal in 2022, pays the stud fee, and breeds a mare back, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2023. For breeders not interested in the Share The Upside program, Thousand Words will be offered for $7,500 on a standard stands and nurses contract. As always, Share The Upside opportunities are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. ■ 8 THE FLORIDA HORSE • FEBRUARY 2021
From six crops of racing age and 114 runners, Field Commission has progeny earnings of more than $4.6 million. Among his current runners are Drafted, who won his 2-year-old career debut at Keeneland while setting a track record of :50.45 for four-anda-half furlongs. A multiple stakes-winner and group-placed, the 6-year-old has career earnings of $690,633. Other 2020 black type performers include Hall Rich Legacy and 2-year-old Ricki Ticki Taffi. “Field Commission was a very very special soul. He was truly all class,” Selzer continued. “His racing talent was exceptional and certainly speaks for itself. Not only was he physically stunning and an incredible athlete with great speed, but he was kind and honest with a great mind. ‘Commish’ was the ultimate professional, both on and off the track. He was an absolute dream to be around every day. He was a true gentleman with just the right bit of mischief. Field Commission excelled in everything he did and he seemed to pass on his talent and great mind to his progeny. Like their sire, they just seem to get better with maturity.‘Commish’ touched many lives and was well loved by many. Field Commission’s loss is profound for all of us here at Solera.” ■
Florida-bred Lady’s Island Defends Title to Win Sugar Swirl For the second consecutive year, Floridabred Lady’s Island sprinted to the front from the start and never looked back while winning the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl Stakes over six furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 12. Trained by Georgina Baxter for Matties Racing LLC and Averill Racing LLC, Lady’s Island and jockey Emisael Jaramillo shot to the lead from post two and had two-and-ahalf lengths on the unbeaten Golden Ami in second with recent Millions Distaff Preview runner-up and fellow Florida-bred Sound Machine another half-length back in third after a quarter-mile in a quick :22.12. Sound Machine extended her margin to three lengths coming out of the turn after clicking off four furlongs in :44.54 as Sound Ma-
