Getting the jump on the opposition leaving the turn in the CA$125,000 Toronto Cup Aug. 31 at Woodbine, Chiefswood Stables’ homebred Piper’s Factor defeated favored Swift Delivery , the 3-year-old owned in part by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce via a Team Valor International partnership.
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Though Gary Barber and Team Valor International’s Swift Delivery came into the one-mile Toronto Cup with all the publicity, Piper’s Factor made the headlines on race day with his performance, his first start on turf.
Just off the pace early under Sofia Vives as Babbo set early fractions of :23.61 and :47.02, the victorious 3-year-old son of The Factor advanced rapidly to take command with six furlongs in 1:10.99 and finished strongly through the lane to complete a mile on yielding turf in 1:36.09. In front by 1 3/4 lengths at the finish, he paid $16.60 to win.
“I tried to get first run on everybody, and he was all game down the lane to get to the wire first,” Vives said.
Swift Delivery rallied from the back of the pack to threaten in midstretch before his bid stalled over the final furlong. He finished a clear second ahead of Dresden Row in third.
The winner, bred in Ontario out of the Niigon mare Pipers Future , recorded his third win in 10 starts and his first at the stakes level for trainer Katerina Vassilieva.
The Factor stood this past season at Lane’s End in Central Kentucky for $10,000.
