Commonwealth Turf (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
November 22, 2025

This Saturday, a field of seven will be taking part in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf, held at a little over a mile, for three-year-olds. The race was first held in 2005 but has not been on the calendar every year despite being graded since 2008. In 2022, after the race had a two-year hiatus, it would see a purse increase to the present $300.000 level, rising from the lower $125.000 amount, so this should attract bigger fields if that had been an issue before. We had two winners last year as Were Wolf and Winned finished in a dead heat. Were Wolf was a Riggins Racing horse at the time and ran well for a while after but was claimed for $35.000 in July and has not raced since. Winned, then out of Team 7 Illusions, has not won since that victory, and while he is still active, his best days are behind him. He was claimed for $100.000 in May and has not lived up to that tag. Will we have a singular winner in 2025, or will the race have its third dead heat all time? Here’s a look at our runners:

1- Spirit Day (Nakamura Stables, ridden by I Castillo)- After not doing much in his career, Spirit Day stepped up and delivered an impressive wire to wire win at LAD, winning by four lengths over two others (one of which has already been deactivated) last time out. Therefore, it can be up for debate how impressive that win was but it did earn him a 97 SRF in an impressive winning time. He’s been better since he was gelded and he does work well at a mile, and that all goes into giving him this test.

2- Royal Devil (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by D Cabrera)- Started the year off hot, and would run second in the SA Derby, a result that got him into the KYD. After that did not go well, he was moved to the grass and has looked good on the turf. At the end of May, he was back here at CD for the $275.000 Audubon and got the win. Later on, he was second (in a dead heat) at the $3,500.000 Grade 3 Nashville Derby. There have been some runs on the main track mixed in as well where he has also been effective. Now, Royal Devil has had about two months of rest and seems poised to be on the top contenders in this race.

3- Western Knight (Our Athletes, ridden by F Geroux)- It’s been a great year f or Western Knight, as the gelding has earned over $1,000.000 in seven starts. Two of those are race wins, with a big one happened at the Grade 1 American Turf here on KYD day. Later on, he would win the $250.000 KD Preview Nashville Derby, though he would not run in the Nashville Derby itself. Instead, he would run a week later in the $2,000.000 Gun Runner and was third in a dead heat. While his last race was not pretty, he’s had the occasional dud every now and then, so the Station at KEE could simply be written off as that.

4- Turning Point (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M Franco)- Perhaps this race can be a turning point for Turning Point. Let’s start where he has been, and that’s two wins out of 15 starts and none since July of 2024. He’s been a non-factor in his last two, which sends him here to the Commonwealth Turf. That is where the turning point can come in, because this will be his turf debut. From the trainer’s perspective, he has to try something for this horse that has only hit the board once in eight tries this year. Most recent turf work was in April, so little to go by in that area.

5- Cherokee Reindrops (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- Like his stablemate, Cherokee Reindrops is getting moved up in class. The gelding has won three out of four, but all three of those wins have come at BTP, so don’t expect the likes of Royal Devil or Western Knight to be intimidated by that. Racing at BTP can be a lot better than it may seem, and a closer look at the $11.000 allowance he won last month shows four of the other seven horses in the race having been in a stake in their prior six starts. This is a good time to take this chance.

6- Extravagant (Bigchief Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- It’s been a great year for this Great State gelding, as he has hit the board in five of eight races this year, with two victories. In June, he picked up his biggest victory of the year, capturing the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge at SAR and since then he has continued to run near the front. On soft turf in September, he finished second in the $2,000.000 Gun Runner, as he got the head bob over a third-place dead heat that included Western Knight. That was followed up by running fourth in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at KEE, and he comes here off that effort. It’s a shame that he was not in the BC, because he may have been a contender in that. Certainly, he will be a contender here and will be my pick.

7- McWicked (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- The Bronx Bomber gelding has won half of the eight races that he has been in this year, and that is highlighted by his victory in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing at SAR in August. His next start would be the $2,000.000 Gun Runner, where he met up with a couple of these he sees again, but he was a non-factor in the race. Perhaps, we can blame the soft turf for that. Rain should not be an issue here on Saturday, but it is expected Friday so Mb Stables will be hoping for no lingering showers. Third last time out at eleven furlongs in the JC Derby.

Prediction: 6-2-3-7

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES