Field of 11 set for Whitney Handicap

Notional's victory in the Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park earlier this month put him into the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile which will be run on Santa Anita's synthetic surface. This year's Breeders' Cup will be conducted for the first time on an all-weather main track.

Lawyer Ron won last year's Whitney is a stakes and track record time of 1:46.64 for the nine-furlongs.

Owned by J. Paul Reddam and trained by Mark Hennig, Notional will start from post three in the 11 horse field with Edgar Prado riding. The four-year-old colt has won four of 11 career starts for $695,740.

Last year Notional won the San Rafael and Risen Star Stakes. His last race as a three-year-old was the Florida Derby when he was second to Scat Daddy. A broken leg ended his 2007 season.

Commentator, winner of the 2005 Whitney, has drawn the inside post with John Velazquez getting the riding assignment. The seven-year-old gelding, trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito for Tracy Farmer, will be making his first start at 1 1/8 miles since he finished third in the 2005 Woodward to Saint Liam.

The veteran runner is coming off a second-place finish to Divine Park in the Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park on Memorial Day. Commentator has lifetime earnings of $1,091,936 in 18 starts with 11 wins.

Pimlico Special champ Student Council is expected to receive a lot of attention from the betting public. The six-year-old will break from post 10 with Shaun Bridgmohan back to ride.

Student Council has earned just under $1.4 million in his 28 race career with eight victories. Trained by Steve Asmussen for W.S. Farish, Student Council is coming back from a third-place result to Mast Track in last month's Hollywood Gold Cup. Last year he won both the Hawthorne Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic, and is expected to make his next start in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on August 24.

Here is the complete field for the Whitney Handicap in post position order: Commentator, John Velazquez; Solar Flare, Gabriel Saez; Notional, Edgar Prado; Cowtown Cat, Rafael Bejarano; Merchant Marine, Rajiv Maragh; Tasteyville, Michael Luzzi; Rising Moon, Cornelio Velasquez; Grasshopper, Robby Albarado; A. P. Arrow, Ramon Dominguez; Student Council, Shaun Bridgmohan and Timber Reserve, Javier Castellano.

Post-time for the 81st Whitney Handicap is scheduled for 5:46 p.m. (et) and will be televised on ABC.