As usual on Sunday race days, the attendance is understandably far less than normal and on September 8 there was no difference.
Favourite at odds of 1-2, Nina Dorada, was saddled by Edward Walker with Youville Pinnock at the reins for the first of the rider’s two wins on the card. The consistent seven-year-old bay mare held a clear lead early and also into the home straight but just lasted the 1100-metre trip of the opener by a nose.
Rider of over 2,700 winners, including 124 this year in North America since 2006, visiting US based crowd-pleasing Arnaldo Bocachica opened his local account with the Adin Williams owned and trained maiden Tuts (2-1). The little filly appreciated the tactics executed by the flamboyant reinsman as she was rated perfectly over the 1400 metres of race two.
Most members of the numerous Raddesh Roman fan club neglected to back Anthony Dixon’s maiden filly Design Diva as the title-chasing rider got her home by a shorthead at odds of 9-1 in race three run at 1000 metres straight. This for his only success on the day.
On the other hand, in race four over the same distance, Paul Francis’ win aboard Donovan Phillips’ Aava Jaelyn (5/2) was the first of three for this veteran jockey.
For his second on the ten-race programme, Francis along with trainer Errol Burke had a particular piece of good fortune. After defeat by a neck, Miss Lynton (Tevin Foster) first past the post was disqualified and race five was awarded to Princess Ifiyah (5-2).
The offending Miss Lynton took the ground of third-placed Bad Investment (Robert Halledeen) inside the last 150 metres of the 1100. In addition to the Stewards inquiry, Halledeen also objected successfully and his mount was promoted to second.
Speaking of veterans, in race six, run at 1200 metres, the very experienced Oniel Mullings came home just over four lengths clear aboard Queen Of Soul (5-1) for former trainer Anthony Nunes.
Francis confirmed his triple success aboard Storm (9-5) in the 1400-metre race seven. The ten-year-old bay gelding was declared by owner/trainer Ricardo Brown for win number ten for the ageing thoroughbred from 50 racecourse appearances.
It was 36-1 against six-year-old mare Maya but at the end of race eight, she had more than two lengths to spare over her nearest rival in the 1500-metre gallop to secure Pinnock’s riding double. With this success, jockey-turned-trainer Phillip Elliot had his sixth trip to the winners’ enclosure this season.
The $3.75 million 3rd renewal of the featured 1900-metre Winston “Fanna” Griffiths, run as race nine, was anticlimactic in some sense in that Derby third and 1-2 favourite Captain Sparrow never raised a gallop and was seventh of the eight runners.
Comehometome (4-1), ridden by Tevin Foster was always clear and scored by over six lengths for conditioner Jason DaCosta who, being away overseas, was not present. Comehometome is owned and bred by Elizabeth DaCosta, mother of trainer DaCosta.
Supporting the feature was the nightcap, an 1820-metre Overnight Allowance event run as a tribute in memory of Kenneth Mattis one of Jamaica’s greatest ever horsemen. As a heavyweight jockey rode an impressive 318 winners mostly when race meetings were far less than 50 annually. Mattis won seven trainers’ championships in an extraordinary career.
The event went to the Peter-John Parsard conditioned D Head Cornerstone (2-1) outstaying rivals by two and a half lengths to secure the double success of Bocachica.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Jason DaCosta, for the obvious significant improvement of Comehometome, who was in imperious form in executing the Best Winning Gallop. Tevin Foster, who rode her from well off the pace to be fourth in the 1000 Guineas and to a similar placing in the Jamaica Oaks, secures the Jockeyship Award for the switch to the enterprising tactics of putting the speed and stamina of her rivals to the test.
