Devine Lexie opens her account
After 32 attempts with some encouraging efforts, four-year-old bay filly Devine Lexie (Natural Selection – Preach Preacher) finally found where the winning is located. Devine Lexie claimed her first win in a maiden condition race over nine furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m).
Ridden by in-form apprentice Anthony Allen, Devine Lexie, owned and trained by Anthony Nunes, was held off the pace going around the clubhouse turn. Desrianna set the early speed with Anthony Thomas in the saddle in front of Lady Rattapur (Romario Spencer), Miss Hazel (Hakeem Pottinger), and Top Gear (Roger Hewitt).
Entering the main track, Desrianna continued to lead as Devine Lexie slipped into second place ahead of Miss Hazel and Lady Rattapur, however, with five furlongs (1,000m) remaining, Devine Lexie surged to the front and never looked back afterward.
Devine Lexie kicked clear at the half-mile (800m) and held her gallop to the wire, winning by 2 ½ lengths from the determined Miss Hazel. Funky Fashion (Dane Dawkins) came from far behind to get third place with a final time of 2:02.2.
Note: Miss Hazel broke well and held a prominent position throughout the race, while finishing strong venturing over the distance for the first time. Now heading in the right direction, Miss Hazel should not take too long to release the maiden tag. Apprentice Roger Hewitt fell from Top Gear and did not ride for the rest of the meeting.
No problems for Miss In Kiss
After a below par effort in open claiming on last, Miss In Kiss returned to Restricted Allowance company and made light work of rivals. Miss In Kiss romped home by 2 ¾ lengths while travelling five furlongs (1,000m) on the round course.
The five-year-old chestnut mare, trained by Gresford Smith, produced a strong run in deep stretch to get the better of Classy Miss (Trevor Simpson) and Band of Gold (Anthony Thomas) in a time of 1:01.1.
Nuclear Dan Dada (Daniel Satchell) shot to the lead at the off. Still, after a couple of strides, Classy Miss took over ahead of Blusie (Raddesh Roman) with Miss In Kiss (Omar Walker) looking out of it at the back of the seven-horse field.
Turning for home, Classy Miss continued to be a strong force ahead of Blusie with Miss In Kiss getting into the mix. In a flash, Miss In Kiss blew past rivals and went on to win easily.
Nuclear Dan Dada came through some traffic issues to get second place but was disqualified for causing interference to Blusie at the furlong pole.
Note: Nuclear Dan Dada was sharply away from the inside post but going into the first turn, he was taken off the pace, losing ground on the leaders and came on strong towards the end. One to watch when next at the races.
Sir Puddington triumphs at a mile
With his primary challenger, My Mom Juss scratched just before the start of the race, five-year-old bay gelding Sir Puddington made no mistake. In the process of winning, Sir Puddington dismantled rivals by 6 lengths to win a Restricted Allowance event over one mile (1,600m).
Sir Puddington missed the break but recovered and was held comfortably on the inside rails under champion jockey Christopher Mamdeen. Sir Puddington was still well behind the pace set by Herecomestheboss (Jerome Innis), Lazer Light (Hakeem Pottinger), Dallas (Javaniel Patterson) and Cohete del Exito (Shamaree Muir).
Herecomestheboss tried to steal a march when she opened up on the field, leaving the five-furlong point ahead of Dallas and Lazer Light. Sir Puddington got rolling approaching the distance after slipping down into fourth place behind the leaders.
Turning for home on the outside of runners, Sir Puddington accelerated and in doing so motored by rivals to secure the victory. Dallas held on for second with Herecomestheboss getting third. The final time was 1:43.3.
Note: Cohete del Exito was up with the pace throughout the race in second position approaching the final bend but faltered in deep stretch and finished in sixth place by 16 lengths. May need some rest after racing six times in the last three months.
Twilight Storm at 178-1
Twilight Storm, bred, owned and trained by Carl Anderson, produced a massive upset in a field of 16 runners over seven furlongs (1,400m), winning at odds of 178-1. The event was an Optional Claimer for $250,000-$200,000 horses.
Ridden by the newly graduated apprentice Kawise Gentle, Twilight Storm (Twilight Time – Brainstorming) was always in a prominent position from the off. He sat third behind Mr Lyndhurst (Romario Spencer) and Bigman Union (Reyan Lewis) with Rohan’s Cattleya (Kiaman McGregor) alongside.
Navigating the half-mile (800m) turn, Twilight Storm surged to the front and kept on going and going until the wire intervened. Cruise Lava Cruise (Dane Nelson), who went in chase approaching the distance, finished in second place while Smashing One (Chalrick Budhai) ended in third. The final time recorded by the winner was 1:31.0.
Note: Miss Judy came home fourth as the 8-5 favourite. Miss Judy broke well but seemed to have stumbled and had to be taken off the pace. Turned for home dead last with the jockey motionless in the saddle and flew into fourth place under tender handling from the rider. One to watch.
No claims
It was somewhat surprising that no horse was claimed on the nine-race programme.
Only the fifth and seventh events on the card were claiming races, and they both failed to produce a single claim.
In the fifth race, Rockdale, Chief Secretariat, Twilight Storm, and Mr Lyndhurst ran with $250,000 claiming tags and none attracted any claims. Likewise, in the seventh event, Rising Bop, Biblical Legend, Twilight Dreams, Eddie’s Princess, and Diosa de Oro all went in on a $550,000 claiming tag but failed to fetch buyers.
