KINGSTON, Jamaica - In the history of local racing, even prior to the 1959 establishment of the Caymanas operations, the result of the 1300-metre opening event is undoubtedly unequalled in nearly all respects.
Three of the nine starters were declared by trainer Fitzgerald Richards, which obviously is not unusual, but the odds of 67/1, 10/1 and 19/1 against Sacrifice (Shavon Townsend), Boss Izzy (Nicholas Hibbert) and Herecomestheboss (Javaniel Patterson), respectively and the order in which they finished can be characterised as such.
Half an hour later, the long odds trauma for form players was naturally short-lived as the 4/5 favourite, Queen Deftiny (Natalie Berger), overcame an untidy start, running wide at the top of the home stretch and finishing closer to grandstand side, to deliver a two-and-a-half length victory over 1100 metres for trainer Donovan Plummer.
One race cannot be deemed a possible trend, but the signs were there. The promising filly Labycka (Shane Ellis), who was defeated narrowly on debut, confirmed her progress under the guidance of mentor Steven Todd with a 9 1/2 length runaway at prohibitive odds of 2/5 in the 1400-metre third event.
However, race four over 1000-metre straight ended disastrously for the backers of the 1/5 favourite Adoration as veteran reinsman Ian Spence got another scare in the acknowledged hazardous professional life of jockeys, with the Philip Feanny-conditioned colt breaking down on its left fore within shades of the winning post when clear to this point.
The Alford Brown-trained D’s Choice (Jordan Barrett) was on hand to take advantage by a head at odds of 7/2 as Spence had to resort to appropriate preventive measures with a decisive use of the of the reins to reduce the horse’s momentum and stay aboard safely, rather than risk a potentially fatal fall.
Service for the form players was restored in the 1400-metre fifth, with five-year-old chestnut Silver Tapp (Bebeto Harvey) winning as even-money favourite to remain undefeated in two starts under the preparation of Borris McIntosh. This was followed by a 7 1/2 length runaway by Purple Wayne (Dane Nelson) at similar odds to the previous winner for trainer Edward Stanberry in the 1600-metre sixth event.
Even money continued to be favoured odds for the third-consecutive occasion on the card, as second favourite Hoist The Mast (Dick Cardenas) was always clear from early for a two-and-a-half length winning margin in the afternoon’s seventh over 1200 metres.
The 2020 joint champion jockey and current leader Anthony Thomas won the eighth and ninth events in contrasting styles. In the 1820-metre Overnight Allowance he displayed the requisite judgement of pace and tactical acumen to secure victory for trainer Richard Azan aboard US-importee Eroy.
Chasing and waiting for the expected front runner to Harry’s Train (Reyan Lewis) to tire, Thomas’s timely challenge for the lead 900 metres out left chief rival Legality (Dane Nelson) flat-footed, and Eroy sustained the momentum to score by two lengths.
In contrast, with superior class, the Jason DacCosta-trained Fearless Champion dominated rivals to win the 1500-metre nightcap by just over four lengths at odds of 2/5 favourite.
In keeping with our monitoring of the rate it is noted that success for Darby, Nunes, and DaCosta means that, once again, at least a third of the races on a card went to second-generation trainers for a total of 201 wins from a total of 340 races in 2021.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Fitzgerald Richards for saddling the first three to finish in the competitive opener. Eroy is deserving of the Best Winning Gallop accolade for prevailing over a distance generally considered beyond his optimum capability and Thomas gets the Jockeyship Award for yet another skilful display.
