KINGSTON, Jamaica - Few would believe that a track record could be set in one of the many claiming divisions. However, Chitu Prince, a six-year-old bay horse, defied the odds and rewrote the record books for the four-and-a-half furlong (900m) distance.
Trained by Ryan Williams and ridden by Javaniel Patterson, Chitu Prince won by 7.75 lengths in 53.3 seconds during the five-year-old and upwards Optional Claiming ($180,000-$150,000), which also featured five-year-olds and upwards who were non-winners of three.
Chitu Prince's time surpassed the previous record of 53.4 seconds, held jointly by Power Ranking and Rejected Raja. Power Ranking established the record as a two-year-old on October 31, 2021, and Rejected Raja equaled it on October 30, 2022.
In the race, Chitu Prince quickly took the lead over Crushing Power (Dane Dawkins) and Contractor (Richard Henry). Although he stayed with the field for a while, he eventually pulled away near the dummy rails and secured his fourth career win in 35 starts.
Contractor finished in second place and Matriarch (Jordan Barrett) took third.
