KINGSTON, Jamaica - Two-year-old bay colt Royal Approach opened his winning account after he was awarded first place in Division One of a maiden special weight event following the disqualification of the winner, Eroy.
This was on Friday, November 8, which was the first of two Diamond Mile race days.
THE RACE
Going over the distance of six and a half furlongs (1,300m) with Dane Nelson in the saddle, Royal Approach (Natural Selection – Regina Royale) finished in second place by 1 ½ lengths behind Eroy (Robert Halledeen) in a decent time of 1:21.0. My Time Now (Omar Walker) was third and Another Affair (Dane Dawkins) fourth.
However, after a steward’s inquiry, the colours of Eroy were lowered and Royal Approach was awarded the race. The announcement from the stewards was that Eroy had caused interference and intimidation to fifth-by-the-post and 2-5 favourite Uncle Polly (Phillip Parchment) in deep stretch.
TRAINER’S COMMENT
“This win was really good luck for me but bad luck for Richard Azan (trainer of Eroy), as he really had the best horse in the race and unfortunately, he (Eroy) interfered with another runner at the furlong pole and we ended up second and were given the race.
“Just remember that we lost two races in the steward’s room in the last two weeks with K J Express and Adonis being disqualified so, we got back one,” Nunes said.
CONCLUSION
It was Royal Approach’s second start, having finished in second place behind Khobear by a head on debut on October 21, 2019, over seven furlongs (1,400m). Although he finished in second place in this race, Royal Approach still showed improvement in this run and could develop into a worthy racer in the future.
