KINGSTON, Jamaica - Trainer Ian Parsard came to the racing wicket at Caymanas Park on Thursday (Boxing Day) with telling form. Parsard ended the 2019 season with two winners, Mahogany and Coco Chanel.
Mahogany, who had two previous runs with a third-place finish, decimated rivals when releasing the maiden tag in a two-year-old maiden contest with the distance being five and a half furlongs.
What brought attention to the performance of Mahogany was the time recorded by the gelding — a whirlwind 1:04.3, albeit on a fast track. The splits done by Mahogany were 23.3 x 45.2.
“We always had high hopes for him. He is a very lovely looking gelding, very well built, and he shows in the mornings in his exercise gallops that he has a lot of ability.
“Yet, in his two outings previous to winning today [Saturday, December 28], Mahogany failed to deliver as expected.
“I have to give credit to jockeys Omar Walker and Dane Dawkins. Omar suggested that Mahogany was looking at other horses and not focusing, hence we put on the blinkers, and Dawkins reported he does not need the figure 8. We eventually decided not only to remove the figure 8 but the tongue tie as well.
“The combination of everything seems to work very well because Mahogany was able to deliver a pleasing performance.
“I take his performance for what it is, a good run against maiden company. While the time is a good one and he dominated, we are adopting a wait and see approach as we enter Mahogany’s three-year-old campaign.
“The real test will come when he [Mahogany] faces stiffer opposition, which is sure to come.
“So, it’s one day at a time, and we will see where Mahogany is going to lead us,” Parsard said.
Mahogany, bred by Sensational Slam-Mete-Orite, got off to a flying start and was never headed, winning by 13 lengths without being asked a serious question by his rider, Dane Dawkins.
Cold Pursuit, the 9/5 second-favourite ridden by Raddesh Roman, finished second but was later disqualified.
Lord Ajahlon who finished third, ridden by Trevor Simpson, was promoted to second while Primal Fear, ridden by Shane Ellis, moved up to third.
