KINGSTON, Jamaica -ASSISTANT trainer Peter-John Parsard says once his stable’s promising galloper Peaky Blinders gets over his tardy gate habit the four-year-old chestnut gelding could develop into a top-class performer.
Parsard gave his opinion following Peaky Blinders’ impressive, come-from-behind win in a native-bred four-year-old and upwards (non-winners of three) and imported four-year-olds and upwards (non-winners of two) going 6 ½ furlongs (1,300m).
Peaky Blinders, wearing the tongue tie and figure 8, staggered out of the starting gates in the 12-horse field and was dead last down the backstretch. Talona (Anthony Thomas) and Legal Bomb (Javaniel Patterson) vied for the lead.
Going into the half-mile (800m) turn Peaky Blinders made some improvement but was still somewhat off the lead as Talona opened up and looked strong on the front end. Approaching the distance, Peaky Blinders was seen rounding horses on the outside, and by the time the field turned for home the Ian Parsard trainee was already up with the leaders.
Peaky Blinders then exploded in deep stretch and won going away by 4½ lengths under a hand ride from jockey Jerome Innis. Shadowfax (Reyan Lewis) was second with Rainsville (Ramon Nepare) occupying the third slot. The final time for the race was 1:21.3.
“We are really ecstatic about the fact that we were able to win. He [Peaky Blinders] is unbelievably talented but we still have a lot of work to do in the stable to get him figured out at the starting gates. We haven’t given up on it,” Peter-John said.
“I am very happy that the change of equipment made a massive difference for him. He is such a talented horse; he was ridden well, he has the talent, and he was able to win. To be honest, I expected him to break badly, but as long as the jockey rode him correctly I knew that he was better than this field.
“We have to try and get him to break, and if he can break then he is a grade one horse, and so we have material work to do with him. It is just to get him to what he needs to do,” Peter-John Parsard said.
