KINGSTON, Jamaica - SIGNIFICANT investors M & S Syndicate got a measure of satisfaction when their US-bred Victory Turn (Calvin Bailey), racing for the third time, sped to the front in short order in the opener and remained clear to reward the patience of trainer Gary Crawford. The four-year-old filly debuted on January 30, 2019 and had her second engagement in that year on August 31.
Trainer Crawford and M & S Syndicate had another, more important moment when prospective Classic aspirant Speechless (Robert Halledeen), who impressed when winning by over 10 lengths in January, returned to the winners’ enclosure with an emphatic front-running four-length victory margin in the day’s fourth.
Before the closing of trainer Crawford’s double, races two and three went to favourites Striking Lady (Dane Nelson) and Mother Nature (Douglas Badaloo) in contrasting styles.
Turned out in invincible condition by trainer Howard Jaghai, Striking Lady led early and increased her advantage to over 10 lengths. After being clear at the distance, Mother Nature only managed to score by an unconvincing one length for veteran trainer Wilfred Chin.
Under the new schooling of Gary Subratie, Duke (Robert Halledeen), trained by Richard Azan for his first 10 career races, impressed with a four-length triumph in the fifth. Running diagonally from post position one under apprentice Matthew Bennett, Superbolt, trained by former perennial top 10 performer Richard Todd, crossed legally to the grandstand rails in the 800-metre sprint to claim the largest slice of the purse for the sixth event at odds of 28/1.
Race seven went to the most predictable winner of the season when Patrick Lynch’s Formal Gladiator (Dane Dawkins) beat a vastly inferior field by 10 ½ lengths at odds of 1/9.
Although running green from the top of the stretch, Ian Parsard’s Double Jeopardy performed gamely to score narrowly in the eighth for a Dane Dawkins second winning ride.
Odds-on favourite Nevada (Trevor Simpson) scored unchallenged in the ninth for former commercial airline pilot Owen Sharpe, a part-owner training a small string.
Chace The Great (Kiaman McGregor), now seven years old, whose last victory was the 2018 Champion Sprint, found his customary turn of finishing speed to win the 10th.
Vincent Atkinson’s first winning day as a trainer was doubly sweet as in the 11th, and closing, event his Danny Spud (Hakeem Pottinger) scored by 6 ½ lengths at 26/1.
THE AWARDS: The Best Winning Gallop Award is presented to Chace the Great, and Vincent Atkinson earns the Training Feat Award for his conditioning of the gelding. Kiaman McGregor’s skillful handling of Chace The Great is well-rated for another Jockeyship Award.
