Five Iron earns frontrunning victory in Fort Marcy

As the song goes, “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.”

Five Iron has evidently taken that sentiment to heart, as last year’s Saranac Stakes winner at Saratoga returned to the Big Apple for a frontrunning victory in Saturday’s $150,000, Grade 3 Fort Marcy Stakes at Belmont Park.

All three of Five Iron’s wins last year, including the Saranac, had come on the engine. That fact wasn’t lost on Mike Luzzi, who put the 4-year-old colt on an eight-length lead down the backstretch through an opening half-mile in 47.21 seconds.

Five Iron remained well in command around the far turn and had enough left in the stretch to hold off Summer Front by one length.

“When I spoke with [trainer Brian Lynch], he basically told me he’s a quirky, really strong horse,” said Luzzi. “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 … and 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.”

Five Iron ($41.40) ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.30 on an inner turf course labeled good and completed a big afternoon for Brian Lynch, who sent out Coffee Clique to win the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile earlier in the day.

Summer Front was clearly second best by two lengths over Tetradrachm, and Speaking of Which, the beaten favorite in last year’s Fort Marcy, was a neck farther back in fourth.

Ghurair was bet to favoritism at just under 7-5 for his United States debut but missed the break and never factored, checking in eighth of 10.