KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Winston Griffiths Classic Weekend (Sat, Sept 7 & Sun, Sept 8) was dominated by jockey Paul ‘Country’ Francis.
‘Country’ was aboard four winners, one on Saturday and a triple on Sunday.
That was not all for the long-time reinsman, who recently celebrated his 800th win, as Francis teamed with Oshane Nugent to win the five-race Winston Griffiths Jockeys’ Championship.
Competing as Team A King Is Born, Francis and Nugent accumulated 25 points to defeat Team Royal Dad (Robert Halledeen and Phillip Parchment) with 22 points and Team Legal Light (Reyan Lewis and Shavon Townsend) with 21 points.
Francis earned 19 points with Nugent getting the other six, for the overall 25 points tally.
Points in the championship were allocated as follows:
First - 6 points
Second - 3 points
Third - 2 points
Fourth Place and Unplaced - 1 point each
In the event of a scratch, two points were awarded to the jockey (s).
“It was a good weekend for me. Winning four races over two days is not easy as the competition is always tough.
“To win the jockeys’ championship with Oshane (Nugent) was nice. It was like putting the icing on the weekend cake, and I give thanks,” Francis said.
Francis’ four winners were on Saturday, Geolithic for trainer Peter-John Parsard.
On Sunday, Francis earned his winners atop Aava Jaelyn for trainer Donovan Phillipps; Princess Ifiyah following the disqualification of Miss Lynton for trainer Errol Burke, and Storm for trainer Ricardo Brown.
