Two Last Words First Black-Type Winner for Commissioner

Deann Baer's Two Last Words struck again for his sire, Commissioner , giving the WinStar Farm stallion his first black-type stakes winner Sept. 11 when the 2-year-old gelding won the Hillsdale Stakes at Indiana Grand.

Trained by Tim Glyshaw, Two Last Words won on debut May 31 on the same course to become the sire's first winner. The Indiana-bred followed up his maiden win with a fourth in the Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs and then finished second in an Indiana Grand allowance race. He came into the Hillsdale off a sixth-place finish in the TwinSpires Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes at Ellis Park.

Bred by Baer along with her husband Dr. Greg Baer, Two Last Words is the first foal out of the Fusaichi Pegasus  mare My Peg.

"This horse is one that nobody wanted, so we were glad to keep him," said Dr. Baer, who was attending the race while his wife was with their horses selling at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington, Ky. "He had a tiny chip in his right rear. We breed our horses to sell, but we decided we would just keep him."

Trained by Todd Pletcher and campaigned from 2013-15 by his breeder, WinStar Farm, Commissioner won the Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) and Skip Away Stakes (G3) in his 4-year-old season. As a 3-year-old, his top performances included runner-up finishes to Tonalist  in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) and Belmont Stakes (G1).

Commissioner closed his racing career on a high note, taking the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (G2), bringing his record to 5-3-2 from 15 starts and earning $962,237.

From the final crop of champion A.P. Indy, Commissioner is out of the Touch Gold mare Flaming Heart and is a half brother to graded stakes winner Laugh Track and graded-placed Intrepid Heart. His half sister Mythical Bride is the dam of Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1) winner Vino Rosso. Commissioner stood 2019 for a fee of $7,500.