KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Jamaica Derby 2022 will be run on Saturday, August 6, with 2000 Guineas, and St Leger winner Blue Vinyl trained by Patrick Lynch on the cusp of becoming a Triple Crown champion.
Coverage of this year’s Derby, with a flashback of previous winners of the Triple Crown. We start in 1996 with War Zone.
War Zone, trained by Wayne DaCosta, groomed by Linval McFarlane, with Andrew Ramgeet in the saddle, rose to fame and glory in 1996 after winning the 2000 Guineas, the Jamaica Derby, and the Jamaica St Leger, completing one of the rarest accomplishments in horse racing – the Triple Crown, with these races limited to the three-year-olds.
McFarlane, known to all in and out of the racing arena as “Pickins”, said that War Zone was a special horse.
“Winning a Classic race is a very great achievement for any groom, and for anyone in the sport. So, winning the 2000 Guineas with War Zone was just joy then when you add the Jamaica Derby which was unbelievable plus the Jamaica St Leger and completing the Triple Crown, words cannot explain the feeling,” McFarlane said.
“What made this Triple Crown win so special to me was the fact that War Zone was undefeated from a two-year-old right through the Classic races. He won about 13 races straight before the streak was broken in the Superstakes where he finished third,” McFarlane continued.
After War Zone’s easy win in the Jamaica 2000 Guineas, McFarlane, who had won three groom’s titles in 1993, 2005, and 2015, said that he had a little scare going into the Jamaica Derby as his charge got injured.
“The first Derby winner is always going to be a special one and one that will always be remembered for a very long time. But going into the 1996 Derby, War Zone had a little setback as one of his hoofs was swollen and I was wondering if he was going to make it.
“I started carrying him to the sea and gave him some long swims and eventually the foot got better and everything was okay with him. War Zone made one move to win the Jamaica Derby and I was a very happy man that day,” he said.
McFarlane, who received the None Such Award for lifetime achievement in 1999, said that winning the St Leger and completing the Triple was the defining moment in his career which has spanned more than 40 years as a groom and assistant trainer.
“War Zone also made one move to win the St Leger. He was in his ‘ackee’ and he had a good jockey in Andrew Ramgeet. I had nothing to worry about as Ramgeet knew him like the back of his hand and it was left to them to take home the glory. As far as we can see, he was one of the best Triple Crown winners here,” McFarlane ended.
