OK Commander on track to return in Simcoe

Trainer Gregg McNair told harnessracing.com Monday that OK Commander, who won his Meadowlands Pace elimination but then was not entered in the $1 million final after coming up lame after the elim due to what the conditioner said was an abscess in a leg, is on schedule for an early September return to the racetrack.

McNair said he plans on training OK Commander on Wednesday and that he has penciled in the Sept. 11 Simcoe at Mohawk Racetrack as the 3-year-old son of Art Major's return.

"OK Commander has been jogging and we're going to train him on Wednesday," said McNair. "We're trying to get him ready for the Simcoe, and then he's eligible to the Jug and then Lexington."

OK Commander finished a close second in the North America Cup consolation at Mohawk, and then led gate to wire in his Meadowlands Pace elim July 10 to score a career-best 1:47.4 victory. McNair said the day following the race that although OK Commander came off the track lame he was optimistic that the colt could race in the final. However, the Ontario-based trainer withdrew the colt from the race the morning of the draw, citing the abscess.

Owned by New Yorkers Bill Switala and James Martin, OK Commander's lone win of 2010 in seven starts was the Pace elim. Overall, OK Commander has earnings of $291,480, with his biggest freshman victories coming in the $180,000 American National at Balmoral Park and the $130,000 Abe Lincoln at Maywood Park.