KINGSTON, Jamaica - IT was fitting that the She’s A Maneater Trophy found its way to the stables of trainer Jason DaCosta as it was his late father, Wayne, who crafted and executed the outstanding career of the former Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner.
The first engagement of the She’s A Maneater Trophy was won by the Jason DaCosta-trained King Arthur, who claimed his second victory since stepping up to the Open Allowance/Graded Stakes level.
The She’s A Maneater Trophy, with a total purse of $1.5 million, was at a mile (1600 metres) and was run at Caymanas Park on Saturday, August 28.
King Arthur, with leading rider and joint champion jockey Anthony Thomas in the saddle, raced in third place along the backstretch — four lengths away as US-imported filly Awesome Treasure (Dane Dawkins) and Double Crown (Jordan Barrett), recovering from a slow start and after picking up rapidly, pressed each other for the early advantage.
Then, in an attempt to steal a march on rivals, Dawkins sent on Awesome Treasure by three to four lengths as they rounded the half-mile turn with Double Crown and King Arthur still following. Sentient (Shane Ellis) also started to move on the inside rails but was a long way off the leader.
Nearing the turn for the final two furlongs of the stretch drive, it was Awesome Treasure carrying the pack as the leader but King Arthur (on the outside) was now flowing for his challenge, with Double Crown and Sentient in the mix and winding up with their late kicks.
King Arthur took over a furlong out but was constantly pursued and pressured by Sentient, who had traffic issues on the inside rails. King Arthur, as tough and resilient as always, held on to win by three parts of a length from Sentient who was half a length ahead of Double Crown.
The final time for the event was 1:38.0 seconds, with accompanying fractions of 23.2, 45.3, 1:10.2 seconds.
“King Arthur trained well for the race and we at the stables expected him to run better than he did when he last raced, and he did likewise — and I am quite pleased with the performance. It was a very good time with 57.0 kilogrammes as I thought that he [King Arthur] was harshly treated by the handicappers. But, he got the job done and I am pleased with the effort,” trainer Jason DaCosta said in his post-race interview. Commenting on winning the first She’s A Maneater Trophy, Jason DaCosta said: “She’s A Maneater is, without doubt, one of the best horses, male or female, to ever race at Caymanas Park. She was a Triple Crown winner, she won the Superstakes three times and, of course, the Diamond Mile twice. She’s A Maneater was the pride and joy of my father who dedicated a lot of his time and effort in ensuring that this horse was always in the pink of condition when she raced. She brought immense joy to those at the stables and I am truly happy and that I was able to honour my father, She’s A Maneater herself, and those close to her by winning the first race in her honour.”
