Toronto, ON – Field Commission, a four-time winner in 2008, made his second start of the season a winning one, defeating some big-name rivals in Holiday Monday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Vigil Stakes.

Despite a third-place finish, just a half-length back of Disfunction in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on April 25 at Woodbine, Field Commission was considered a longshot, at least on the toteboard, in the 54th running of the Vigil. When you factor in the competition he was facing in the seven-furlong feature, namely graded stakes winner Rebellion, who finished second to Albertus Maximus in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the task appeared to be even more daunting. But under a sly ride from Tyler Pizarro, the four-year-old son of Service Stripe rocked his rivals at 22-1, for his first score since an allowance triumph last October at the Toronto oval. Sitting ninth in the 11-horse field after an opening quarter-mile in :23.43 and seventh after a half in :46.06, Pizarro waited patiently before finding a seam along the rail mid-stretch to take the lead. At the wire, Field Commission, trained and co-owned by Dan Vella, was a 1 ½-length winner, with 56-1 outsider Dozen Dancer in second and 7-1 Timely Advice in third. Mutuel favourite Rebellion was fifth. The final time was 1:22.74 over the Polytrack.

“Dan always says take the race from the gate,” said Pizarro, who notched his first Vigil win. “Last race, he was a little sharp the first time out. This time, he got that perfect trip and he was ready when I asked him.”

Vella had high praise for both horse and rider. “He’s a big, rugged horse,” said Vella, of the chestnut colt. “We felt like he could bounce back pretty quick. He told us all the right things. We knew we were doing really well coming in here. It’s a team effort to get a wonderful animal like this to the races,” he continued. “I saw Tyler thinking about which way to go. It worked perfectly. It was a great ride.”

The Ontario-bred now has eight top-three finishes in his past nine races. Field Commission has shown highly consistent form over his 13-race career. He now has five wins, two seconds and four thirds.

Field Commission paid $46.90, $19 and $9.20 across the board, combining with Dozen Dancer ($43, $10.70) for a $1,301.40 exactor. Timely Advice

($7.10) completed a $8,047.20 triactor.

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