His name is Turf King, but Wise Racing's Irish-bred colt by Kingman is now unbeaten in two starts on all-weather surfaces following his victory on Saturday in Woodbine's Grade 3 Marine Stakes on the Toronto, Canada, track's Tapeta oval.
Ridden by Kazushi Kimura for trainer Chad Brown, Turf King saved ground virtually every step of the way in the two-turn contest, rallying up the rail from off the pace to defeat Kaukokaipuu by about three-quarters of a length. Midnight Rising finished third, with Stayhonor Goodside fourth, and Simcoe fifth in the field of eight 3-year-old colts and geldings.
Turf King covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.41 and paid $4.10 as the even-money favorite.
Running for the fourth time at four different tracks, Turf King kicked off his career on Gulfstream Park's Tapeta track on Feb. 16, winning a maiden race by a neck. He traveled next to Keeneland, taking an April 28 allowance race on turf by a head, then finished third in the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park on turf June 3. He trained at Monmouth before shipping to Toronto for the Marine.
One Bay Hemingway seized the early advantage under Luis Contreras, taking the field through moderate fractions of :24.11, :48.22, and 1:12.47 for the opening six furlongs. Stayhonor Goodside was his closest pursuer heading into the far turn, with Rico Walcott keeping Kaukokaipuu just behind that rival before launching a three-wide big around the far turn.
Kizushi bided his time in fifth position along the rail in the run down the backside, awaiting room briefly rounding the final turn, then accelerated quickly once straightening away at the top of the stretch.
Kaukokaipuu got the early jump on Turf King, swinging wide into the stretch and into the lead, but Turf King wore that rival down in the final furlong to get the win. The mile time was 1:37.10 en route to the final clocking of 1:43.41. Midnight Rising, last early, finished with interest to be clearly third best.
The winner, bred in Ireland by Ridgemont Stud, was produced from the Acclamation mare, Sweet Acclaim. Turf King was purchased for $180,000 by Allen Wise's Wise Racing from the Niall Brennan Stables consignment at the OBS March Sale of 2-year-olds in training. Brennan purchased the colt in Ireland as a yearling for $116,834 at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.
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