It was 12-1 against US-bred mare Da Queen's Bee (USA) from the barn of Byron Davis racing for the ninth occasion with only a recent fourth place to show for her previous efforts.
Confidently piloted by Jordan Barrett, being held up off the pace, the five-year-old chestnut progeny of Bee Jersey (USA), sprinted clear inside the last furlong to win the seven-furlong opener by eight lengths.
Race two signalled the start of a very productive day for the high-powered outfit of four-time and leading 2026 conditioner Jason DaCosta. Three-year-old chestnut colt Novio (USA), whose intended debut on August 25 last year was aborted at the start due to an injury, was bet at 2-1 for the six-furlong gallop.
Slow to realize what was required, but having tremendous scope, the massive American thoroughbred specimen, guided by Tevin Foster, arrived in the final strides to better another importee, Iam Who Iam (USA). Novia won by a neck to open a DaCosta four-timer. To say there will be more successes for this colt in the near future is to state the obvious.
Former six-time champion jockey Omar Walker had a near-total surprise success in the six-furlong race three. Warrior Stomp (31-1), whose form was one second and one third place in a career of 19 races, including today, led easily enough and won by four lengths for trainer Alfred Davidson’s first of the season from his 19 declarations.
Owned and trained by Courtney Williams, Storm Boy (3-1), was originally second and ridden by Phillip Parchment, who lodged a successful objection against first-past-the-post Absolute Blue (3-5) and the race day panel of Operation Stewards reversed the placings. Piloted by Raddesh Roman, the offending Absolute Blue had a diminishing margin of only a neck in front at the end of the six-furlong exertion of race four.
Apprentice Tajay Suckoo, riding Bobbytwobad (3-1) over the five and a half furlongs of race five, made winning look easy as the Robert French, owned and trained five-year-old Soul Warrior horse scored by nearly seven lengths. Bobbytwobad was kept marginally in front and on the bridle as Suckoo was supremely confident and only asked for the winning effort approaching the distance.
In race six, run on the maximum straight course, it was a mere formality for the aptly named undefeated Formalist (1-2) for a four-length margin for three wins. Formalist was the third of the DaCosta four-timer and also the first of the two for jockey Robert Halledeen, who was aboard 1-2 bet Chocomo (USA) winning race seven over the same trip by just over three lengths to confirm his double as well.
Race eight, the featured nine-furlong Valbert Marlowe Memorial, was a 16-length runaway for the Peter-John Parsard conditioned Diesel Train (USA) with minimal intervention from champion reinsman and 2026 leader Raddesh Roman to justify odds of 1-5 and open his riding double. The four-year-old Paynter (USA) bay colt looks likely to make further improvement.
Blue Vinyl (2-1), declared by Gary Subratie, was the closer of Roman’s double with the 2022 Two Thousand Guineas under a master class of a ride, conceding 17lbs and beating 5-1 fancied Supremasi (Tajay Suckoo) by a nose in the eight-furlong ninth race.
In the tenth and final event, run at six furlongs, debutant Maverick (1-1), a well-conformed three-year-old Aveenu Malcainu colt, was ridden by Aaron Chatrie to win by a margin of just beyond six lengths. This occasion emphasizes the depth of the DaCosta outfit in delivering the four-timer.
