Featured on the 10-race Sunday card was the 30th renewal of the Prince Consort Stakes programmed for second-season three-year-old colts and geldings to compete over 1400 metres in preparation for the 1600-metre 2000 Guineas, 2000-metre St Leger and the 2400-metre Derby.
Hero of the important 1600-metre 2023 Jamaica Two-Year-Stakes, Interstntimesahead, was bet at 2-5, not only based on superiority in the Premier juvenile event, but his exercise gallops suggest he has trained on.
Declared with leading and title-chasing reinsman Tevin Foster, who has seemingly supplanted both 2023 champion Reyan Lewis and the accomplished Phillip Parchment as the preferred rider for the champion barn of Jason DaCosta.
Interstntimesahead, broadsided on both flanks to lose ground as soon as the gates opened, was settled quickly behind rivals. Allowed to develop his early momentum promptly once in top stride, he mended steadily throughout and overpowered 5-2- wagered front-running Crown Chaser (Raddesh Roman) inside the final 200 metres to coast in by three lengths easing down.
This was the third on the card for DaCosta and the fourth for Foster, who rode the stable’s Dancing Aviator (2-5) to score by one and a half lengths in the opener which was a divided three-year-old maiden event run at 1100 metres.
The second for DaCosta came in Division II run as race eight, with Abigail Able riding Hit N Run (8-5) to secure victory by five and a half lengths. It was a nice touch that both Interstntimesahead and Hit N Run are owned by Mrs Elizabeth DaCosta the trainer’s mom.
Trained by Ryan Darby, Cotterwood Kathy (2-1) romped the day’s second, a 1400-metre event for four-year-olds up non-winners of two races, by nearly 10 lengths for Foster’s second of his five-timer.
Ridden by Lewis for trainer Ricardo Mathie, AKA Storm (5-2) was a game short-head winner of the 1400-metre third event to delay Foster’s assault.
However, the Foster attack was back on track in race four with the victory of Spencer Chung’s debutant US-bred colt Commander Z (1-5) scoring by three and a half lengths over 1000 metres straight but was again paused for the 1400-metre race five.
Owned and trained by Errol Subratie, nine-year-old gelding JamalJames (Omar Walker) on its 42nd racecourse appearance remarkably won for the 13th occasion while Foster had to settle for third on 6-5 favourite Kingswood at the end of this 1400-metre gallop.
To further delay Foster’s journey to his fifth success, race six, run at 1300 metres, was won by 4-1 shot Grey Commander (Ramon Nepare) to give conditioner Keffin Murray his first success of the season from nine declarations.
Then there was 14½ a victory by One Like It (Oniel Scott) over the 1000 metres round race seven at odds of 4-1 for veteran trainer Louis Richards and then race eight won by the aforementioned Hit N Run to delay Foster’s journey even more.
With ninth race hero Interestntimesahead being Foster’s fourth, the in-form rider was now more than ready to confirm his five-timer in the 1000-metre straight tenth event.
It was odds of 3-1 against the Philip Feanny-trained Taurus Boy (USA), a temperamental, inconsistent sort and winner of only five of his 50 racecourse appearances.
With the confident execution of his above-average skill set, Foster made it look a lot easier than it was to induce a comfortable winning margin of two and a half lengths.
