In turf debut, Chaos Agent lands first stakes in Toronto Cup
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario − Chaos Agent overcame a chaotic finish to land his first stakes in his turf debut under Rafael Hernandez in Saturday’s $127,750 Toronto Cup at Woodbine.
Chaos Agent ($8.20) hugged the rail while trailing the seven-horse field of 3-year-olds as Powell River and Final Score dueled through fast fractions in the one-mile inner turf tilt.
Teleport overtook Powell River early in the stretch to take the lead as Chaos Agent awaited room. Chaos Agent made his way between rivals in deep stretch while bumped and went on to narrowly score in a time of 1:36.49 over the firm ground.
Aces Honor saved ground throughout and finished a head behind the winner. Powell River wound up another three-quarters of a length back in third, ahead of Teleport, Aretha, Running On Time, and the favored Final Score.
There was a stewards’ inquiry and jockey’s objection involving Chaos Agent, but the order of finish went unchanged.
Chaos Agent had won two of his three previous outings, all on Tapeta, including an Aug. 2 allowance at Woodbine under Hernandez, won three races on Saturday’s card.
“The last was part was kind of tight,” Hernandez said. “My horse came up and was intimidated but finished with the head in front. This horse is all about heart. After all the bumping, he still came up and won.”
Winning trainer Josie Carroll was confident that Chaos Agent would handle the turf with aplomb.
“[The grass]was already on the radar this spring,” Carroll said. “He absolutely worked well on it and then it took a little while to get back to the races, and here we are. I think he’s a horse who’s just coming into his own.”
A son of Independence Hall, Chaos Agent banked $75,000 for Pin Oak Stud.
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