Commonwealth Turf (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
November 22, 2025
We would have seven three year olds taking part in the Commonwealth Turf On Saturday, and getting the win by nearly two lengths would be McWicked, an Mb Stables gelding who now has five wins in nine starts on the year. McWicked was among our picks, but not our top choice, and went off at odds of 7/1. This is the fourth time that Mb Stables has won the Commonwealth Turf, with the prior wins coming in 2016, 2017, and 2023. J R Velazquez is the winning rider, doing so for the second time. He was aboard one of those who finished in a dead heat last year. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:39.04, and that is a new record for this race! Here’s a look at it!
(1/4 Mile- :23.49)- While running four wide, Extravagant is pushed to the race lead for Bigchief Stables and will begin the run around the turn while on the outside in this manner. To his inside, and with little between then, are Spirit Day (Nakamura Stables) on the rail, Royal Devil (Team 7 Illusions) second over, and Western Knight (Our Athletes) in the third lane. Stalking the these four is our eventual winner from Mb Stables, McWicked, and he is by himself in the fifth spot. Behind him is Cherokee Reindrops (Nakamura Stables), with Turning Point (TwinTowersRacing) trailing the field.
(½ Mile- :46.91)- Extravagant continues to run in the fourth lane throughout the opening turn and into the backstretch, while leading Western Knight by half a length. Spirit Day is still keeping pace with them on the rail, but Royal Devil is beginning to drop back from them. McWicked continues to run patiently right behind them as J R Velazquez waits to see how things will sort out in front of him. Cherokee Reindrops is about two lengths behind him now, with Turning Point well behind.
(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Extravagant looks strong as he leads the way, and is able to push ahead of all of those that he had been running with at the top of the turn, but P Lopez still runs him three wide for the turn instead moving to the rail. Western Knight and Spirit Day were still second and third but had not made a push on the race lead. Royal Devil continued to drop further back, and that would lead to J R Velazquez moving McWicked over to the third lane as he began to make his move in the turn. He would be following Extravagant through the turn, but had not made up significant ground on that one quite yet. Cherokee Reindrops looked to get around Royal Devil on exit of the turn, while Turning Point continued to be well behind the rest of the field.
(Finish- 1:39.04)- Entering the stretch, Extravagant began to lose some of the power in his stride, but the only one that was near him that could take advantage of it was McWicked, and he would do exactly that. With a furlong to go, McWicked was second, and within half a length of the win. The pass was inevitable, and no one else was putting on any pressure further back. McWicked would be able to finish the race off by drawing away from the rest of the field for the win. It officially goes down as one length win, but is more realistically a two length win. No one else gets to Extravagant, so he is second, and Cherokee Reindrops is the best of the rest in third. Western Knight tires less than Spirit Day, and runs fourth. Turning Point didn’t do much, but did catch Royal Devil at the end.
About The Winner- McWicked, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three year old gelding by Bronx Bomber and is out of Lost Keys. He was bred by Brh Stables as a third quarter two year old in California, and was acquired by Mb Stables while he was still unraced in the September 2024 auction for $5.010. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in ten starts, his third stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $651.200.
Due to formatting issues, I will no longer be able to include the tables off of HRP.
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES