KINGSTON, Jamaica - Champion trainer Anthony Nunes brought the curtains down on the three-day Easter Carnival of Racing with three wins on the trot at Caymanas Park on Easter Monday, April 18, 2022.
The Nunes triple began with Aphelios in the fifth race ridden by Raddesh Roman. This was the first occasion that Aphelios was racing under the care of Nunes.
In the sixth race, Amy The Butcher, who was also racing for the first time for Nunes was an easy winner. Dick Cardenas was the jockey atop.
Morimoto won the seventh with Robert Halledeen in the saddle to close the natural hattrick for the champion trainer.
"It is always nice to win one race a day, much less three, and to be productive in the process of winning three races that should be the purpose of training. It was a satisfying day. Nonetheless, that is not the reality of life. Circumstances make men - men do not make circumstances, and we have to push on willingly.
“Two of the three horses (Aphelios and Amy The Butcher), we had purchased privately. We bought Aphelios from trainer Richard Phillipps and since moving over to us, he has done well. It was nice for him to come out for the first time and do well by winning by 7 1/2 lengths. From this showing, I believe that he (Aphelios) can handle the next grade up and it is just left to be seen how well he will perform while moving up.
“Amy The Butcher was a beautiful buy. She is a lovely filly and was Classic placed once but, she is a small filly with a lovely attitude.
“She showed it in her race yesterday (Monday, April 18), as when the gates opened, the horse close to her banged straight into her. ‘Amy The Butcher took the bounce, then settled and bounced right back into him. Although small, she does have her heart in the right place. She then won impressively and seems to have a nice little future ahead of her. She will get up to the Overnight Allowance level and will hold her own there. The way she is moving, I could suggest to her owners to breed her come next year as she's not badly bred and she is Classic placed.
“The final runner was Morimoto who is part-owned by my wife Tara and was bred by Gordon Bucknor, and Morimoto won the Elias Haloute plaque. Mr Haloute played a major part as an owner and as a friend in the development of my career.
“Mr Haloute had two Derby winners, Technomoto and Terremoto. Not that this colt is at that level yet, but time will tell. He is, however, named after Japanese restaurants worldwide where the chef is called Morimoto. We had this name for a long time and had been sitting on it waiting to use it on the right colt. We are now waiting to see if this is the right colt," Nunes said.
