The opener of ten races was won by 7-1 bet Buzz Assault with a game display of front running to score by just over a length from 4-5 favourite Conundrum (Andrew Wright), who gave away too much ground at the start of the five and a half furlongs gallop. Ridden by Samantha Fletcher, Buzz Assault, now an eight-year-old gelding was having only the 29th start of its career with now five wins, four seconds and four third place finishes.
Claiming jockey Tajay Suckoo, in terms of style, is already one of the most advanced of the recent Jamaica Racing Commission Riding School (JRCRS) 2024 graduates. Aboard Uncle Nub (9-5), Suckoo demonstrated patience, balance and correct use of the whip and reins to beat 4-5 bet Equinox (Tevin Foster) by a head over the five and a half furlongs of race two for trainer Victor Williams.
In race three, restricted to maidens five-year-olds and upwards and run at six furlongs, veteran reinsman Aaron Chatrie steered trainer Alphonso Harris’s Sicario Man (5-2) to one length victory margin over 1-2 favourite Medal Award (Tevin Foster). This was the first win for trainer Harris.
Race four saw the much expected first race course appearance of Jason DaCosta schooled US importee Fred The Master. Bet at 1-2 the rangy three-year-old bay colt, guided by Robert Halledeen for the rider’s first of a four-timer. Fred The Master beat stable mate Girvano (Tevin Foster) by five lengths and a quarter over the six furlongs timed at 1:12.3 on the obviously slow racing surface.
Richie Shakes, another of the graduates of the Jockeys’ Training School’s class of 2024, was in the winners’ enclosure following a front-running scoreline of nearly two lengths over the six furlongs of race five aboard Lawrence Freemantle’s Power Ranking (9-5).
This cleared the way for the Robert Halledeen showcase to resume in the seven-furlong race six to confirm his second. Whizz Kidd (2-1), declared by Donovan Hutchinson, was over four lengths clear at the finish.
Ridden by Ismael Velasquez, trainer Richard Azan’s Ms Cherry (7-2) won race seven by just under three lengths after going clear with half a mile from the finish of the seven-furlong gallop. In race eight, run half an hour later, it was a return to the continuation of the Halledeen successes.
Four-year-old maiden Fort Haldane (4-5) saddled by veteran Spencer Chung scored by better than two lengths for the enigmatic jockey’s third.
The Halledeen four-timer came bizarrely easily with the 4-5 bet Titan Tempo (USA), declared by former 14-tme champion conditioner Philip Feanny, winning the ninth event with a romp of nearly 16 lengths over the for nine furlongs and twenty-five yards exertion.
Debutant three-year-old Runaway Star from the DaCosta outfit, Halledeen’s mount in the tenth event, was too roughish to enter his post position in the gates and therefore was disqualified by the starter. The seven-furlong nightcap for maidens was won by My Eclipse (Oshane Nugent) at 11-1 by a margin of just under two lengths for trainer Phillip Lee to open his seasonal account.
