KINGSTON, Jamaica - Soon the panel of racing journalists will cast their votes to choose the Horse of the Year along with the winners of the other categories, including top two and three-year-olds for last year.
Three horses come to the fore for consideration for the much-vaunted Horse of the Year title. She’s A Maneater, Supreme Soul, and Wow Wow are the three whose performances in 2019 stood way above the rest.
Wow Wow (Casual Trick – Sarah Barracuda), as a two-year-old faced the starter nine times, winning eight of those races, including the juvenile series. By winning the Cash Pot, Pick-3, and the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes, Wow Wow became the second horse after Princess Popstar in 2013 to achieve this celebrated feat. Interestingly, in that year, Princess Popstar was crowned Horse of the Year.
Wow Wow, trained by Gary Subratie and owned by Michros, is a certainty to be voted as the top two-year-old of 2019, as well as the top juvenile sprinter and middle-distance champion.
Supreme Soul (Soul Warrior – Beware Baby) achieved what all owners, trainers, jockeys, and grooms yearn for most in racing – the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown comprises the 1000/2000 Guineas, the Jamaica Derby, and the Jamaica St Leger.
The 2019 Triple Crown winner ran 11 races in 2019, winning eight times with almost all of his victories being achieved in his age group.
In his two attempts racing against older horses in the Superstakes and the Diamond Mile, Supreme Soul, trained by Anthony Nunes and owned by Trinidadian Chevan Maharaj, was not able to effectively challenge the seasoned Grade One horses. Both in the Superstakes and the Diamond Mile Supreme Soul finished behind fellow three-year-olds, Toona Ciliata and Sentient.
Supreme Soul will dominate the voting in all the three-year-old categories.
She’s A Maneater (Natural Selection – Ahwhofah), owned by Ian Kong and trained by Wayne DaCosta, governed in 2019 at the Grade One level. A five-year-old mare in 2019, She’s A Maneater had nine starts with victory coming in eight of those ventures to the starting gates.
This mare in 2019 became the first filly to win the Superstakes, Gold Cup and Diamond Mile in the same year. In winning the Superstakes last year, She’s A Maneater became the first filly to win this prestigious offering, three times in succession.
Victory in the Diamond Mile was the second for She’s A Maneater, as the mare also became the first horse in the history of horse racing in Jamaica to garner over $50 million in accumulated earnings.
She’s A Maneater is going to dominate almost all of the awards on offer for horses in the four-year-old and upwards bracket.
The other major awards for 2019 have already been decided as they were based on stakes earned during the year.
She’s A Maneater top the earnings’ list for horses, apprentice Christopher Mamdeen is the champion jockey for the first time, Nunes earned his first trainers’ title, with Michros (Michael Bernard) being crowned as the champion owner, also for the first time.
It is expected that voting for the various categories will start today, and by next week the results made known.
