KINGSTON, Jamaica - Six-year-old grey horse Duke romped home to his third-consecutive win after taking the $2.5-million Port Royal Sprint over six furlongs (1,200m) on November 13, which was Jamaica Day at Caymanas Park.
This was by far Duke’s most impressive win for the season as he took the Open Allowance/Graded Stakes event by 2 ¾ lengths in a time of 1:12.0.
Duke got a flying start at the off as he settled into second position behind Victory Turn (Javaniel Patterson) with Eagle One (Phillip Parchment) in third place.
Duke waited a bit before hitting the front full of running at the top of the lane. Duke then accelerated and powered home to win convincingly.
Father Patrick (Dick Cardenas) and Rojorn Di Pilot (Omar Walker) came home in the second and third places, respectively.
After the race, jockey Robert Halledeen was pleased with the performance done by the Gary Subratie trainee.
“He [Duke] is a very nice horse. He is lovely to work with and has comfortable seating. It was a super performance for him to win. He has peaked at the right time and he made winning look very easy. With an improving attitude, Duke made sure he was the sprint champion 2021,” Halledeen told this publication.
Halledeen continued: “Key to victory was the conditioning and training of Gary Subratie, he made sure he peaked at the right time. Hats off to the groom as the horse looks well taken care of and to me, those combinations are hard to oppose.”
For Subratie it was the culimination of patience.
“Without doubt Duke has come to hand. It took a while for us to ensure that all was right with him. We had to be patient, and now everyone, the owners, the team members at the stables, the riders, are reaping the results of this talented horse.
”Duke has heart, he fights, but today [Saturday, November 13], he exceeded himself. From he hit the straight for the last two furlongs with the lead, I know the others could not catch him,“ Subratie stated.
