TORONTO, ON – After dead-heating with Inclusive to break their maidens on October 21, Tracy Farmer’s homebred Sir Winston got the one-up on his familiar foe when winning Saturday’s $100,000 Display Stakes at Woodbine.
Breaking from the rail under Jerome Lermyte at 4/1 odds, Sir Winston sat in the catbird seat while D Magician led through opening fractions of :25.21, :49.95, and 1:13.36. Making his move along the pacesetter’s outside as they entered the far turn, Sir Winston took command nearing the exit and came down slightly, causing D Magician to steady slightly. Beginning to open up his lead at the top of the stretch, the Mark Casse trainee dug in and held off Inclusive to win by 1 length in a final time of 1:45.02 for the 8 1/2-furlong event over the fast all weather track.
“I thought there would be some speed,” Lermyte said. “I thought maybe one or two more. They didn’t come early, so it was perfect for me. I just didn’t want to be behind one that would stop, so I made the decision to come out a little bit, but the trainer asked me to be a little bit closer today and it paid off.”
Though he appeared poised in mid-stretch to pull off the upset, Inclusive hung late and settled for second, 2 lengths ahead of Global Access. The 6/5 favorite The Boss Factor ran wide throughout the race and never improved upon his position before ultimately taking fourth. Truly Elite crossed in fifth ahead of Baytown Jimbo, while Grimgrinnin’ Ghost, D Magician, and Hit the Ticket completed the order of finish.
Sir Winston’s win was his first since breaking his maiden two races back and came on the heels of his third-place effort last out in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes. The juvenile son of Awesome Again improved his record to 5-2-0-1 with earnings of $74,050.
“He’s been doing nothing else but improving and that’s awesome when you can get that feeling,” Lermyte said. “Even in the morning, he was giving us some very nice breezes in the morning, so we were very confident today.”
Sir Winston returned $10.20 to win, $5.30 to place, and $3.80 to show. Inclusive brought back $7.70 to place and $4.90 to show, while Global Access paid $3.50 to show.
