Five Iron made every pole a winning one to capture Saturday’s $127,750 Toronto Cup, at Woodbine.
Five Iron, a chestnut son of Sharp Humor trained by Brian Lynch, came into the 1 1/8-mile turf stake off a front-running score in the Victoria Park Stakes and found that same style to be a winning one in the Toronto Cup.
A claim of foul by the riders of Rei (Gary Boulanger) and Keep the Cash (Omar Moreno) against the winner for interference just after the start of the race was denied by the stewards.
Five Iron, with Luis Contreras up, set splits of :24.74, :48.42 and 1:12.10 through a driving rain with Are You Kidding Me tracking their early pace throughout. Five Iron opened up a 1 1/2-length lead at the top of the lane and had plenty in reserve to keep Are You Kidding Me at bay for a 1 3/4-length win. Five Iron covered 1 1/8-miles in 1:47.41.
It was a first turf win for Five Iron, who finished sixth in a Keeneland allowance in his only other start on the lawn.
“He’s breezed better on the turf all the time,” said Contreras. “The only thing is to get him to relax a little early, and he did it today. He was nice and relaxed early.”
Contreras was confident his number would stay up despite the inquiry.
“When I broke from the gate, I was almost two lengths in front of everybody,” said Contreras. “I was trying to save ground. I heard a guy yell at me, and I just pulled my horse right away. I didn’t make any contact, or anything like that.”
Five Iron banked $76,250 in victory, while improving his record to 3-2-1 from 10 career starts.
He returned $8, $4.50 and $3.60, pairing with Are You Kidding Me ($4.50, $2.80) for a $27.70 (5-7) exactor. A 5-7-4 (Comes the Dream, $3.60 to show) triactor was worth $88.70. Rei completed a $1 Superfecta (5-7-4-1) worth $156.40.
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