Trainer Steven Todd starts with a triple bang
KINGSTON, Jamaica – It was a sedate start to the 2022 racing year with small fields and a number of late non-starters being the order of the race day.
In the ten 10 races, top claiming trainer Steven Todd, who finished seventh among the conditioners in 2021, made his intentions clear with a natural hattrick of winners. Two of Todd’s winners were claimers with his three-year-old Awesome Rich the significant difference of the three.
Todd and Ryan Darby are the leading claiming trainers, with both in the main doing well with horses they claim. These two trainers are always on the top 10 list and both are young men, who have staked their professional future in the racing industry.
The time is ripe for Todd and Darby to increase their presence on the track by getting more two and three-year-olds in their stable armoury. Yes, it is easier said than done, as the best yearlings around are hard to come by, but for Todd and Darby, the natural progression is for them, as quickly as is possible, to have horses participating in the bigger purse races, the Classics and at the top level.
Yes, easier said than done, but it has to be the new frontier in the natural development of Todd and Darby. Time will tell!
Trainer Gary Subratie, third in the 2021 championship race behind champion Anthony Nunes and Jason DaCosta, continued his customary trek of visiting the winners’ enclosure early in the season. On January 1, 2022, Subratie had two winners, Traditional Boy, who is owned and bred by popular singer Freddy McGregor, and Awesome Treasure, who turned around her form with victory in the feature Fan Appreciation Trophy.
Among the jockeys, the day belonged to Dane Dawkins and his two winners, Traditional Boy, and Awesome Treasure. Dawkins had the misfortune of falling from his mount at exercise close to the end of last year. He made a tentative return to competitive riding near the end of December without featuring prominently.
On New Year’s Day 2021, Dawkins showed that his return is complete with his two winners for Subratie. From the look of things, Dawkins seems to be the go-to rider for Subratie, as Robert Halledeen has seemingly made the switch to the barn of Nunes.
A special word of mention to the connection of Peking Cruz, trainer Gregory Forsyth and jockey Tevin Foster for winning the first race of the year.
A sedate start to the 2022 Racing Year, but there is enough fodder to build on.
