KINGSTON, Jamaica - It is every trainer's wish to secure a regally bred horse that they hope can run a hole in the wind.
This may not be the case for Alford Brown and his charge Yellowstone, but the conditioner certainly has a good prospect in the Gregory Stewart and Hylton Hamilton-owned, four-year-old chestnut gelding.
After returning from an almost three-month break to top a non-winner of four races field over 5-1/2 furlongs (1,100m) on January 15, Yellowstone returned two weeks later to down better quality rivals on his first outing in a Non-restricted Overnight Allowance contest for the George HoSang Trophy over the same distance on January 29.
Yellowstone topped the event by 1 ¾ lengths in a slightly better time of 1:07.2, when compared to the 1:07.3 he clocked in his previous race. The splits on this occasion were 23.3 and 47.1 seconds.
The performance had Brown and others in the connection smiling from ear-to-ear, as a shin issue that they were recently concerned about, now seems to be a thing of the past.
That, coupled with the fact that the Sensational Slam –Awry progeny continues to display his immense potential has resulted in heightened expectations, as Yellowstone now heads to the Open Allowance level with three-consecutive wins under his belt.
“I’m very excited about this performance. This is a major improvement and we are extremely delighted with his progress. This is why we do what we do, but we just want to continue taking our time with him,” Brown said in a post-race interview.
“He is now eligible for Open Allowance, so now I have to prepare him for that class, as you know those races don’t really run very often, so I just have to find the right one to place him in,” he added.
Since making his debut in April last year, Yellowstone has been a prominent contender for the most parts, as he has only failed to hit the board twice in his now 11-race career. He now has five wins and two second place finishes to his credit with the other four being two fourth-placed and two eighth-place finishes.
Though Yellowstone was up in class for the first time to bid for a hat-trick of wins, he showed no such inexperience and with competent handling from former champion jockey Anthony Thomas, he left more fancied rivals in his wake.
The talented Ham Stables-bred charge left the gates in good order from the wide number 12 draw, but was patiently held by Thomas, as Emperorofthecats (Paul Francis) and Super Duper (Reyan Lewis) disputed the lead.
When they left the half-mile, Thomas released his restraint and Yellowstone soon rounded the leaders in the stretch run and from there, the St Mary-based jockey maintained his composure and shook the challenge of favourite Nuclear Noon (Tevin Foster) to win.
Taurus Boy (Javaniel Patterson) closed for third with Emperorofthecats completing the frame.
Brown pointed out that they did little in the build up to the race and, as such, credited Thomas for his patient handling to ensure Yellowstone came out of the race in good stead.
“We honestly didn’t do much, just an easy half-mile work after he ran two weeks ago, he came out of that race well and so we just gave him an easy work,” Brown shared.
“Thomas did the right thing taking his time to come down throughout the race to ensure he wasn’t interfering with anybody and he rode a perfect race. Once he changed Yellowstone’s lead I knew he was going to take off and he did just that, so again, so far so good and we continue to hope for the best going forward,” he ended.
