KINGSTON, Jamaica - TRAINER Edward Stanberry looks certain to have his first serious say in the upcoming Jamaica three-year-old Classic races, specifically the 1000 Guineas, with his improving and gutsy bay filly Sweet Majesty.
Sweet Majesty, by Soul Warrior - Bitter End and ridden by Christopher Mamdeen, shed the maiden tag with a noticeable performance following a series of preparation races which the trainer said was “to bring her on stream at the right time, in the right frame of mind, for the big occasion”.
Stanberry revised the equipment set-up and fitted the filly with the figure 8 and cheekpieces, also adding Lasix, and Sweet Majesty responded positively with her first victory in a Maiden Condition race for native-bred fillies only – by 3 1/2 lengths at 20/1 shot – at Caymanas Park on Monday, May 17.
Ridden by 2019 champion jockey Christopher Mamdeen, Sweet Majesty bided her time and then caught and swept by leader Midnight Blue (Anthony Thomas) in mid-stretch and won the 1500-metre event in a time of 1:36.2 with splits of 24.2, 48.3, 1:13.4.
Maya (Oshane Nugent), at odds of 20/1, circled the field from early to finish second as Midnight Blue faded out of contention to finish third in the field of 9.
“I am so happy about this win as I prepared her diligently for this race to go up into a higher grade.
“Sweet Majesty did just what I wanted her to do and ran how I expected her. She did it quite satisfyingly, in my estimation, as I am training her for the upcoming Classic season, so this win was timely planned.
“It was a win that I was expecting while taking my time getting to where we are heading, and with everything remaining even I will be there as she is showing steady improvement as these young horses do,” an optimistic Stanberry said.
