KINGSTON, Jamaica - Following Summer Sun’s win in a non-restricted Overnight Allowance event on Saturday (October 19), the three-year-old American bred chestnut colt has now advanced into the top 16 horses eligible for the Diamond Mile.
With the win in the $1 million event, Summer Sun earned $546,000 as the winner’s share to increase his earnings to $1.27 million, which puts him in 14th position on the list. The maximum amount of horses than can participate in any one race in Jamaica.
Drummer Boy with earnings of $1,248,100, Princess Ava with $1,220,000 and Fayrouz with $1,067,400 are behind Summer Sun on the list with less than two weeks to go before the Diamond Mile. The Diamond Mile Weekend is set for Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, with the Diamond Mile race itself set for the Saturday. The Diamond Mile itself carries a purse of US$115,000 which is over $14 million.
Ridden by apprentice Raddesh Roman, Summer Sun came from far behind to beat rivals by two lengths going away in the nine furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m) event in a time of 1:55.3. My Elle Belle (Aaron Chatrie) ran on for second place with Hover Craft (Omar Walker) getting third.
“This to me was one of the toughest assignments faced by Summer Sun but he has been on the improve in the mornings and his recent workouts were pretty good and this means that he had a good chance going two turns today (Saturday).
“With this victory, Summer Sun has now qualified for the Diamond Mile so that is the next stop. I cannot tell you that he will place in the Diamond Mile but he is an earner as these American horses have a way of improving very quickly, so there is no way we can tell how good he is right now but Summer Sun seems to be on top of his game. Now let us see how it turns out on Diamond Mile Day,” DaCosta said.
