KINGSTON, Jamaica - IN her third racecourse Traveller’s Lodge (2-5), schooled by second-generation conditioner Christopher Pearson and guided by Robert Halledeen for the first of a riding double, gave no anxiety to supporters as she never at any stage looked likely to concede the early lead, increasing it, in fact, by five lengths in the 1100-metre opening event restricted to four-year-old maidens.
In terms of odds against winning, the 40/1 returned by the Anthony Nunes-conditioned GT Boy (Youville Pinnock) was extraordinary. Both 2000 and 1000 Guineas hopefuls respectively, Awesome Anthony and Legit Boss battled for the lead from 800 metres out but were relegated to second and third, respectively, by the winner’s strong finish. Also saddled by Nunes, Legit Boss was a defeated 1-5 favourite but being just over two lengths adrift over 1,100 metres of race two is still a credible performance. She did stay on to be joint runner-up in the 1600-metre Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes last Boxing Day.
The athletic and hugely competitive reinsman Roger Hewitt rode the first of two winners in the 1300-metre race three and is now well on his way to emerging as a top flight exponent of the art of tactical race riding. In race three, over 1300 metres and aboard 3-2 choice Secret Traveller, he got the nine-year-old gelding to focus on the early gallop over this distance, which is short of his best, and sprint to the front early in the home straight, scoring by nearly three lengths in the process. The win sent trainer Robert Ffrench to the winners’ enclosure for the second time this season from his eight declarations.
Race four over 1000 metres straight was won by consistent specialist K D Rocket as the 3-5 favourite, with champion Dane Dawkins at the reins for trainer Gary Subratie.
It was champion trainer time in race five going 1500 metres as 4-1 shot Lion of Ekati (USA), a maiden racing for the 21st time, won race five over 1600 metres for Jason DaCosta to claim the first of three on the day, with Reyan Lewis applying the requisite riding skills.
With the second season Futurities getting closer, the sixth event — restricted to maidens of both sexes — was a precursor of things to come. Schooled by Patrick Lynch who saddled the dam of Ability (Disability Charm) to success in the 1000 Guineas in 2015, the impressively conformed colt ridden by Samantha Fletcher led early and was 12½ lengths clear of his nearest rival at the end of the 1200-metre gallop.
The second victory for the DaCosta camp was a mere formality, with 1-5 favourite Inspired Miracle winning the 1500-metre seventh non-event by six and a half lengths to confirm Halledeen’s second success on the card. However, half-hour later it was time for the featured race eight for the SVREL Sixth Anniversary Trophy. DaCosta saddled four of the seven starters, including 1-5 favourite She’s My Destiny. Roger Hewitt, riding the lesser-fancied I Am Fred (USA) offering 8-1, secured a second winning mount on the card by delivering a well-timed late challenge to score by three parts of a length.
Races nine and ten presented opportunity for ex-three-time champion Anthony Nunes, dethroned by DaCosta in 2022, to respond. The ninth run over 1000 metres round was won by Milos (6-1), driven to a length and a half clear with Tevin Foster executing the exacting riding demands for the first of his natural double. Foster, in winning the closing event, had a simpler task in that winner Nefertari (2-1) was presented in invincible form by Nunes , the late-running filly scoring by five lengths when the 1500-metre gallop ended.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Jason DaCosta for the return to form of I Am Fred (USA) who finished last but one in the Mouttet Mile but delivered the Best Winning Gallop, with the Jockeyship Award going to Roger Hewitt.
