KINGSTON, Jamaica - Father Patrick produced one of his more telling performances to win a three-year-old and upwards Open Allowance/Graded Stakes event run for the Thoroughbred Racing Hall-Of-Fame Stakes Trophy on the 10-race card at Caymanas Park on Saturday, July 17, 2021.
Father Patrick, trained by Ian Parsard and ridden by Jordan Barrett, accomplished his ninth win from 23 career starts travelling six furlongs and was clocked in a time of 1:11.4 with fractions of 22.4 x 45.4.
The 4/1 chance Eagle One with Dick Cardenas in the irons finished second while God of Love the 8/5 favourite ridden by joint jockey champion Dane Nelson was third.
The task of winning was made a tad easier for Father Patrick after his stablemate Mahogany was declared a late non-starter, leaving 10 horses to contest this trophy race.
When the gates opened, Patriarch, the known speedster in the line-up, was not the best away leaving God of Love and Father Patrick to vie for supremacy on the front end.
Patriarch (Youville Pinnock) coupled quickly and joined God of Love on the inside and Father Patrick sandwiched between the two.
Then with about three furlongs left in the contest, Barrett seized the initiative by pushing Father Patrick to the lead, and from then the race was on for second place.
The win by Father Patrick over Eagle One was a moral victory for the Nuclear Wayne — Late Appeal five-year-old bay gelding as when the two last met going 6 ½ furlongs (1,300 metres), Eagle One, an imported four-year-old bay gelding by Astrology - Frisky Cheerleader, ran on late to win the Eros Trophy by a length.
Assistant trainer Peter John Parsard was on hand to watch Father Patrick take the 10-horse field apart by 4 ¾ lengths.
“From his preparation coming into the race, we were pretty confident of a win from Father Patrick. The jockey rode him perfectly but a win was always expected. It was good to see a young apprentice as Jordan (Barrett) put in a neat performance as he did aboard the horse. It was an excellent job done by him,” Parsard said.
Asked when Father Patrick was challenged by Patriarch at the quarter-mile if he was worried Parsard said: “Not at all. We were confident of victory no matter the distance, from he broke well he was going to win. The time is encouraging and we are very happy with that level of performance.”
