Horses You Should Know in the Donn Handicap

Lea is looking to become the first horse since Cigar to win two Donn Handicaps. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire.)
The first major race of the year for older horses on the East Coast, Gulfstream Park’s 2015 Donn Handicap is full of star power.
From last year’s Donn victor Lea to last year's Belmont Stakes runner up, the Donn looks like a wide-open race, so let’s take a look at a few Donn contenders you should know on Saturday.
Commissioner surprised the world at the 2014 Belmont Stakes when he came within a head of winning the race at odds of 28-to-1. He had to take the rest of his 3-year-old season off after having an ankle chip removed and returned to the races on Jan. 10 where he was in a close race for the win. He didn’t get a victory that day but like the Belmont he was very close, finishing only a neck behind the top two. Commissioner doesn’t have a graded stakes victory to his name yet but he has a very powerful figure behind him in the Donn. He is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has won this race twice in the past five years, with Quality Road in 2010 and Graydar in 2013.
COMMISSIONER BEFORE THE BELMONT STAKES

Constitution received some good news over the weekend when it was announced that Clark Handicap winner Hoppertunity is running in the San Antonio Stakes instead of the Donn. In the Clark, Constitution led most of the way with Hoppertunity right behind him before fading to third in the final strides. The bad news for Constitution is that he will also be facing Protonico, who finished second in that race and who also trained by Constitution’s trainer Todd Pletcher. But Constitution has an advantage at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old colt won his first three career starts here last year, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby. An interesting dynamic in this race is that both Constitution and Commissioner are at least partially owned by WinStar Farm. WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden told the Daily Racing Form that running the two against each other isn’t an ideal situation, but that both horses are doing well so it is a good start to their seasons.
CONSTITUTION AFTER WINNING LAST YEAR'S FLORIDA DERBY

Lea was the fourth choice in the 2014 Donn Handicap and paid off those who believed in him with a return of $13 for every $2 bet on him to win. After last year’s victory, the 6-year-old horse had some health issues and was forced to take the rest of the year off. But that break didn’t seem to hurt him much when he made his return in early January in the Hal’s Hope, a race he won by a half-length. That bodes well for his chances in this year’s Donn as he won the Hal’s Hope before the race last year. If Lea wins the Donn again this year, he will be the first horse since Cigar in 1995 and 1996 to win back-to-back renewals of the race. The good news about that? Just like Cigar, Lea is trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
LEA RETURNED TO HIS WINNING WAYS IN THIS YEAR'S HAL'S HOPE