KINGSTON, Jamaica - In the opening event, run over 1,000 metres on the round course, No Surrender (5-1) with a two-length victory margin kept the strike rate of the David Lee Sin small outfit commendably high.
Smartly ridden by Youville Pinnock and owned by Lee Sin himself, No Surrender was the stable’s sixth winner from 15 starts this season and added to that are two second and three third-place finishes for the barn as well.
Linton Steadman was slated for double riding form with maiden California Gold (2-5) from the Patrick Lynch outfit proving to be two and a half lengths better than nearest rival over the 1,300 metres of race two.
The popular reinsman confirmed his second aboard Thalos (5-2) in the 1,000-metre straight of race four with a two-length winning margin for trainer Fernando Geddes’ second success from 20 attempts this year.
Race three, run over 1,300 metres, was a runaway of nearly eight lengths by Stormy Valley (6-5) for owner/trainer Joseph Thomas to be in the winners’ enclosure to pose for the photo-op with three-kilogramme claiming jockey Shane Richardson.
Anthony Allen is a much better rider than this season’s returns of three wins from 55 opportunities suggests. Chasing the three battling leaders from fourth in the 1,300-metre, fifth event, his mount Bold Sami (USA), at odds 29-1, got the benefit of a lightning switch of whip from left to right early in the home straight. This allowed the Casbert Khwalsingh-declared five-year-old mare to exploit the running room on the far rails to sprint home by a length and a half.
Race six was a close affair with one length covering the first five to finish. The most minimal winning distance of a nose was credited to favourite Market Place (9-5) trained by Robert Pearson and ridden by Roger Hewitt for the hard-working reinsman’s first of two wins on the day.
Hewitt’s return to winners’ enclosure was in stark contrast to the first with Ultimate Machine (3-2) turned out in unbeatable condition by conditioner Robert Ffrench, winning the 10th and closing 1,200-metre event in a nine-length romp.
In the seventh, an 800-metre dash, consistently placed maiden Rhosa The Warrior, even money favourite, was four lengths superior to nearest rival with champion Dane Dawkins executing the riding honours for trainer Anthony Smith.
Run over 1,000 metres round, race eight was won by D Head Cornerstone (25-1), a horse who contested the 2022 Triple Crown series and was not known for sprinting prowess before. Sadiki Blake, who replaced declared rider Paul Francis, did an outstanding job in executing this exacting task for trainer Gary Subratie.
The ninth and featured 1,000-metre straight Harlequin Trophy race to honour the memory of 1976 Horse-Of-The-Year was won by Emperorofthecats (16/1), bred, owned and trained by Carl Anderson. Ridden by four-kilogramme claiming jockey Richard Henry, the consistent four-year-old bay gelding outsprinted far more favoured rivals by a comfortable three and a half lengths.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Gary Subratie for the performance of D Head Cornerstone for executing the Best Winning Gallop over a distance short of previous optimum favoured distances. Unquestionably, Sadiki Blake’s confidence in handling this unfamiliar mount with such confidence earns the Jockeyship Award.
