Another renewal of the five-furlong straight Nigel B Nunes Memorial Trophy was the feature event of the nine races on the card.
Nunes, champion trainer in1976, was the patriarch of a great racing family. Matriarch Hillis was an important owner, and sons, Anthony and Andrew and grandson Nigel Burke followed in their father’s (grandfather’s) footsteps and became conditioners.
Anthony is a former three-time local titlist and Andrew joined the ranks of distinguished horsemen such as Englishman William C “Bill” Marshall and natives Victor Cheeseman, Romell “Perkins” Lovell and Saffie Josephs Jnr as champion conditioners of Barbados on the right-hand turf circuit of Garrison Savannah in Bridgetown.
Andrew’s championship crowns came from his exploits in 2010, ’21 and ’23.
Coincidentally, interestingly and arguably appropriately, today Steven Todd and Peter-John Parsard were third-generation winning trainers on the card. Then these two, Anthony Nunes and Jason DaCosta, are second-generation sons of champions, who also visited the winners’ enclosure to make it five successes on the card for this cohort.
Run as race eight, the result of the 2026 Nigel Nunes yielded an unlikely winner in Lockdown (75-1), conditioned by trainer Ryan Darby. Drawn at post position one, which is considered disadvantageous, in a field of 16, veteran reinsman Paul Francis induced a strong late burst on the far rails from Lockdown, a four-year-old chestnut progeny of Strikewhileitshot, to secure victory by a head over 28-1 bet Johncrowjeff.
Favourite at 6-5, Reportable Offense, trained by Steven Todd and guided by 2022 champion Dane Dawkins, was the best by six lengths in the opening event. This was a maiden, restricted to horses four years and older and run at seven furlongs. The winner is a Hedge Fund-bred filly bred and owned by Paul Williams.
In race two, a two-year-old Restricted Allowance II, was the first of two on the day for the stable of four-time and reigning champion Jason DaCosta, with the five-and-a-half-furlong event going to Birthday King (USA), a 3½-lenth winner ridden by leading Tevin Foster for the opener of a riding double as well.
Ridge Liner (3-1), declared by Winston Morris and partnered by apprentice Emelio McLean, returned from a 321-day layoff to outsprint five rivals by just over three lengths and take the third event. It was contested on the straight course for $1.0 million or $800,000 claimers.
The Restricted Allowance III, run on the straight course as race four for non-winners of four races in careers, saw Feeling Free (4-5), saddled by Peter-John Parsard, sprinting home four lengths clear to give the two-time and reigning champion Raddesh Roman the first of two wins on the card.
Come the end of race five, it was time for the formidable DaCosta/Foster collaboration to be in the winners’ enclosure for the second time to confirm the stable double. Runaway Star, even-money favourite, won the five-furlong straight contest, confined to horses four years and upwards with less than two career victories, by a comfortable margin of two lengths.
Apprentice Jaheim Anderson, who had a three-timer six days ago, had another good day with the opener of double success in race six. With only five-year-olds and older with fewer than three wins eligible for this Restricted Allowance IV over 6 ½ furlongs, Golden Lawyer (8-5 favourite), from the camp of Phillip Lee, had two lengths to spare over its nearest rival.
Race seven made it a natural double for Anderson, as the promising young rider came home 4½ lengths clear aboard Patrick Lynch’s three-year-old maiden filly Woodburn Hills (5-2) in an event run at 5½ furlongs and restricted to her sex.
Roman confirmed his two-timer in the 6½ -furlong nightcap with Sonny T And Chippy (5-2), saddled by Oral Hayden, was nearly five lengths clear of ten rivals valued at either $1.5 or $1.2 million.
