KINGSTON, Jamaica - Blue Vinyl, in a devastating run, won the 2022 Jamaica 2000 Guineas Classic (one mile) at Caymanas Park on Sunday, June 5.
Owned by MNM Racing Stable, trained by Patrick Lynch, and ridden by Raddesh Roman, the chestnut colt won the three-year-old event for colts and geldings by 11 lengths in a time of 1:37.4. The fractions were 23.3 x 46.0 x 1:11.3.
Starting from the number one post, Blue Vinyl broke in mid-pack and watched as Yellowstone (Anthony Thomas) led the Guineas field of 12 down the backstretch ahead of Brinks (Reyan Lewis), Emperorofthecats (Bebeto Harvey), and Morimoto (Robert Halledeen).
Blue Vinyl came into view approaching the five-furlong (1,000m) point when he slipped down into fourth place, as Brinks took over on the front end, bringing the field into the half-mile (800m) turn.
Then at the top of the lane, Blue Vinyl started to surge, and with a flash of sustained acceleration jetted by all and sundry, to secure a commanding win of seven lengths ahead of Brinks (second) and Emperorofthecats (third).
“After The Kingston, we took it easy with him. We gave him (Blue Vinyl) only two gallops coming into this race because he is not hard to train. But then again, he has certain issues that we had to take care of and so we had to go easy with him. I never had any doubts where weight was concerned as if you look at the horse, how he is built, he is built to carry weight and so I don’t have a problem with that,” trainer Patrick Lynch.
“I was never worried about the number one draw. I knew my horse is a very talented runner as anything I ask him to do, he will do it. Coming into this race, I listened carefully to the trainer’s instructions that everybody will be coming down at the half-mile and so I must look at the leaders and make my decision carefully. Once I got a clear run at the top of the lane, I know that my horse was going to deliver,” jockey Raddesh Roman.
In a cohort of unimpressive three year olds, Blue Vinyl is improving at the right time and based on his style of victory, the 10 furlongs of the St Leger and 12 furlongs of the Jamaica Derby won’t be a problem. A rather interesting clash against the other three-year-old standout Atomica is brewing in the St Leger.
It was pleasing to see the performance of Brinks, the top-rated two-year-old of last season. Brinks’ performance in the Guineas gave hope that he will finally get it right in races to come.
Perfect Brew, who finished second in The Kingston, failed to show up in the 2000 Guineas. This to pundits is an indication that all is not well, or that he has simply not demonstrated the necessary improvement at three. Truth be told, we have a mediocre bunch of three-year-old colts and geldings.
