In the opener, favourite Himaya (9-5), from the outfit of Carlton Cunningham, in an event for $350k claimers run at seven and a half furlongs, got the best possible assistance from 2022 champion reinsman Dane Dawkins to beat 12-1 shot Charming Sound by half a length in a competitive finish.
Forty-three minutes later, the second event of ten on the day came in race two with Birthday King (USA) winning the second juvenile restricted event of the 2026 season. Schooled by four-time and reigning conditioner Jason DaCosta, the colt, a well-confirmed chestnut progeny of American stallion Kantharos, started at odds of 2-5, led and scored by just over two lengths, sprinting the three furlongs in 36.3 seconds, slow, but not to be dismissed.
Ridden by Tevin Foster, for the first of his three-timer, Birthday King was the first of two on the card for the irrepressible trainer/jockey collaboration. The second for these in-form horsemen came in the Restricted Stakes seventh event with Gallant Groom (USA) scoring by 19 lengths.
This race was treated more like a schooling exercise, as Foster did not allow any idling and kept the burly colt up to its work to clock 1:19.1 for the six and a half furlongs of the gallop.
Race three was reduced to four starters as Don’t Tell Lou Lou and Lucky Papa, both well fancied in the betting, did not come under starter’s orders. Oh My Gosh (6-1), ridden by Jahiem Anderson for trainer Ryan Darby, won the five-furlong straight sprint by just under one length.
In the afternoon’s fourth, it was a more than promising debut for the Spencer Chung-schooled three-year-old gelding Dreambeachdreaming (USA).
Starting at odds of 7/5, the impressively conformed progeny of Slumber (GB), an English-bred stallion serving in New York, won by 5 ½ lengths. The bay gelding was given the full benefit of the experience of Ian Spence, the dean of the jockey’s colony, as this far-striding thoroughbred was allowed to relax off the early pace before taking command inside the last furlong.
Apprentice Anthony Frazer, one of the 2024 graduates of the Jamaica Racing Commission Riding School (JRCRS), had what will be an unforgettable day of his life. His first success of a frustrating experience so far materialized in victory aboard Rejected Raja (7-2), saddled by Ricardo Brown, to score by just over a length in race five, run on the straight course for $700,000 claimers.
Speaking of 2024 JRCRS graduates, Tajay Suckoo, back from injury, was aboard Patrick Elliott’s Oil Machine (4-1) in the 6 ½-furlong closing event to win the contest for $1.5 million claimers by nearly four lengths. Anderson, Frazier and Shakes, with their successes, ensured that the JRCRS was well represented yet again.
Top-flight, now non-claiming apprentice Ricky Shakes broke a lean two-month spell aboard Ms Prosecutor (21-1), declared by Everald Francis to score in race six, a Maiden Condition restricted to three-year-old fillies. The event was run over 6 ½ furlongs and contested by a field of thirteen starters.
This was the opener of a double for Shakes, who guided 23-1 shot Whizz Kidd, entered by Errol Subratie, for a near five-length success in the featured eight-furlong O & S Tack Room trophy.
Coming off a victory in race seven aboard the aforementioned Gallant Groom, leading reinsman Tevin Foster closed a natural double and confirmed his three-timer simultaneously aboard Lauren’s Secret (4-5) in race eight. Saddled by perennially successful jockey-turned-trainer Patrick Lynch, Lauren’s Secret, in winning by a neck, needed the full skill set of Foster to land the six-furlong Restricted Allowance race for four-year-olds and older with fewer than three wins.
