KINGSTON, Jamaica - On the final day of the historic three-day Easter Carnival, the operation stewards took centre stage with two lengthy deliberations over incidents in races three and eight in an otherwise tepid staging of nine races; none of which was particularly challenging to the racing intellect of the more discerning bettors.
The opening event, contested over the 600-metre trip on the straight course for the lowest category of claimers at a high of $180,000, was won by 4-5 odds on favourite Okahumpka (Shane Richardson) saddled by Donovan Russell.
Half an hour later the day’s second event, a race in which title-chasing second-generation trainer Jason DaCosta had five of the seven starters, his progressive four-year-old lightly raced US-bred Double Diva (Anthony Thomas) cantered to nearly eight lengths clear of rivals in the 1,400-metre gallop at 1-9.
Race three is where the stewards, on an inquiry as well as a jockey’s objection, had to decide as to whether to disqualify or otherwise. The protagonists here were Kunda Man (39-1) and Conundrum (9-5) ridden by Aaron Chatrie and Omar Walker, respectively. Leading past the distance Kunda Man had his advantage threatened by Conundrum as they entered the final 200 of the 1,200 metres of the race.
In response, Chatrie elected for left-handed use of his whip which caused his mount to shift diagonally but gently to the right and bring the contestants into much closer quarters. Eventually, Walker, seemingly threatened by the gentle angular path of his rival, took up his reins at a moment, probably too soon, to avoid what he perceived as a likely broadside thus yielding his ground to Kunda Man who went on to score two and a half lengths clear.
Not every infringement is interpreted as deemed worthy of disqualification. In this writer’s view, the “all-clear no change” in favour of Kunda Man, saddled by Dale Murphy for the first of two wins on the day, was predicated on the fact that Conundrum, in finishing second, was not denied his likely best placing at the finish with Kunda Man travelling significantly stronger and the incident such as it was occurring less the 30 metres from the winning post.
Murphy was back in the winners’ enclosure following a fine display of sprinting by improving US-bred three-year-old colt Runaway Algo to win the 1,100-metre Overnight Allowance dash with Mamdeen also celebrating a second win on the day.
The vocal uproar at the announcement of the decision had more to do with the 39-1 odds of the winner than any claim the stewards may have erred.
Later there would be more for the stewards to do and that was in the eighth with a vastly different set of circumstances to review.
In race four, run at the full 1,000 metres of the straight course, 2019 champion Christopher Mamdeen wore down front-running Chief of State (Youville Pinnock) with the Rudolph Hardial-conditioned mare Faulyna Forever three parts of a length superior at 3-1. More success was in Mamdeen’s future.
The hour and a half reserved for races five, six, and seven over 1,000 metres round, 1,400 metres, and 1,300 metres, respectively, was champion trainer time. Three-time defending titlist Anthony Nunes, already locked in a 2022 duel with DaCosta, turned out his latest acquisition, Aphelios (Raddesh Roman) to win by over seven lengths as the 1-5 favourite in the fifth, and another recent inmate Amy the Butcher (Dick Cardenas) to score by just over six lengths at even money in race six. This was followed by the closing of a Nunes hat-trick with Morimoto (Robert Halledeen) winning the seventh by over six lengths at odds of 1-9.
At the end of the 1000-metre straight eighth race, the stewards were required to deliberate again. Infrequently engaged Delroy Beharie got a rare opportunity aboard Richard Azan’s 9-1 entry three-year-old Josh. Always in front but with close pursuers, the journeyman rider’s use of his whip right-handed caused Josh to drift left and into the path of challenging first-timer Buzz City Light before going on to score by a neck.
This was a straightforward decision to disqualify “first-past-the-post” Josh as his infraction caused Buzz City Light to finish third which clearly would not have been his highest placing. The maiden event was awarded to debutant Degaulle, the 3-2 favourite, ridden by Ian Spence for former 14-time champion Philip Feanny with Josh demoted to fourth.
