December 23, 2024

Five Iron, Waterway Run thrive on Belmont turf

Last updated: 5/3/14 7:26 PM











Five Iron made a winning shot after a strong opening drive

(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Five Iron’s brazen early speed proved to be his ace in the hole in Saturday’s
Grade 3, $150,000
Fort
Marcy
at Belmont Park.

Sent right to the front by jockey Michael Luzzi, Fred Allor’s homebred sped
off to an eight-length lead down the backside, was asked for more while seeing
his margin evaporate turning for home, and held off Summer Front to win the
nine-furlong inner turf feature by a length.

After setting fractions of :24 2/5, :47 1/5, and 1:11 1/5, Five Iron
completed the course in 1:48 1/5 on good ground.

“When I spoke with (trainer Brian Lynch) he basically told me he’s a quirky,
really strong horse,” Luzzi revealed. “If you try to rate him, or take hold of
him, he’ll fight you and he’ll run off. It probably looked like he ran off, but
I had him. I had him, he didn’t have me, which I was happy about. When we got
that far in front, at the three-eighths pole, I said, ‘Might as well get away
now and not wait for them to catch me.’ It worked out. Nice horse.”

A 19-1 outsider on the tote, Five Iron returned $41.40 to win.

Summer Front, the second choice, finished two lengths clear of Tetradrachm,
who was followed by Speaking of Which, Unbridled Ocean, Sky Blazer, Swift
Warrior, 6-5 favorite Ghurair, Manighar, and Seal Cove.

Five Iron placed three times in stakes — the Swynford, Woodstock, and Marine
— in Canada before winning three added-money events in a row last summer. Those
victories came in the Victoria Park on Polytrack at Woodbine, the Toronto Cup
over the turf at Woodbine, and the Saranac on turf at Saratoga. All three were
at 1 1/8 miles.

A retreating third over boggy ground in the Hawthorne Derby in his
three-year-old finale, Five Iron trailed a field of nine in his 2014 debut in
the March 29 Appleton at Gulfstream Park. The Sharp Humor colt now sports a line
of 14-5-2-2, $491,060.

A $17,000 Keeneland January yearling bred in Kentucky, Five Iron was produced
by the Thunder Gulch mare Tee Off, who also raised the Grade 2-placed Back Spin.
Tee Off is herself a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Tactile, and both
were reared by Grade 1 winner Only Queens.










Waterway Run finally got on the right side of a photo in the Beaugay

(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Martin Schwartz’s Waterway Run emerged from between rivals to take the lead
in mid-stretch and then held off an inside surge from Orion Moon to capture the
Grade 3, $150,000
Beaugay
for fillies and mares.

Under Jose Lezcano, the 2-1 favorite rated in mid-pack as Assateaugue held a
one-length lead through splits of :24 1/5, :48 and 1:12 3/5. Given her cue by
Lezcano at the top of the stretch, the four-year-old Arch filly turned in a
solid kick inside the final furlong and dug in to win by a neck in a time of
1:42 3/5 for 1 1/16 miles over the Widener turf. She paid $6.60.

“It looked like she was in tight quarters for most of the race and (Lezcano)
just bided his time,” trainer Chad Brown said. “When she got in the clear she
showed the kick that she has; we were very pleased with the performance and the
ride. The distance was key for her. A mile or a mile and a sixteenth is her
game.”

Orion Moon easily earned second money by 1 1/4 lengths, with Byrama
prevailing in a four-horse photo for third. Scampering, English Class,
Assateague, and Irish Mission rounded out the order of finish. Watsdachances and
the main-track-only entries Natalie Victoria and Sunny Desert were scratched.

With the exception of a detour to the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
Turf at Santa Anita, where she finished sixth, Waterway Run spent the rest of
her first two seasons of racing in Europe. Her peak effort was a Group 3 score
in the Oh So Sharp at Newmarket as a juvenile when under the care of Ralph
Beckett. Since her arrival in the U.S. on a permanent basis, the daughter of
Arch has raced twice for Brown, missing in photo finishes in a Gulfstream
allowance and in the Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs. Her career mark now stands
at 11-4-2-0, $182,789.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Dorothy Matz, Waterway Run was a $15,000 Keeneland
September yearling. She was produced by the Dixieland Band mare Princess
Consort, a daughter of multiple stakes winner Camella. This is the extended
family of Grade 2 winner Suivi and multiple Grade 3 winner Mr. Nightlinger.



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