The 2012 Breeders' Cup Mile is still a long ways off, but you can't blame the connections of Mr. Commons if they are already thinking about it. The four-year-old son of Artie Schiller stamped himself as the early favorite for the race this afternoon at Santa Anita with a breathtaking victory in the $150,000 Arcadia Stakes (gr. II).
Sent off as the 2-5 favorite under Mike Smith, Mr. Commons settled into the fifth postion early on along the fence as Dewey's Special, Calimonco, and Pathfork set a strong pace of :22.98 and :46.26.
Rounding the far turn, Mr. Commons began to advance along the inside, but needed somewhere to go. Fortunately, a hole opened up along the fence, and Smith sent his mount through to strike the lead near the eighth pole. Willyconker closed fast on the far outside and briefly appeared to be a threat, but Mr. Commons found another gear and turned back the challenge to win the race by a length and a quarter in a brilliant 1:33.41 for the mile.
Willyconker finished second, followed by Massone and Calimonco. The winner is trained by John Shirreffs and owned by St. George Farm Racing, LLC.
-Keelerman
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