KINGSTON, Jamaica - Brinks, another in the group of promising racers trained and bred by Ian Parsard with Reyan Lewis holding the reins, earned his first win as a three-year-old in the Winston “Fanna” Griffiths Classic. This event was a three-year-old graded stakes contest run for a total purse of $3,375, 000 at Caymanas Park on Saturday, September 3, 2022.
Brinks by Bern Identity out of Indian Bluff, is owned by Karen Parsard and Everton Campbell, won the 1,900 metres event as the 1/5 favourite by 3 ½ lengths in a time of 2000.3 seconds. The three-and-a-half-length success was Brinks third overall victory from 10 starts. Guiding split fractions were 25.0 x 50.4 x 1:15.3 x 1:39.4.
Morimoto as a 13/1 betting option with a late threatening burst finished second under jockey Tevin Foster. Perfect Brew ridden by jockey Shane Ellis came in third.
Great Trick (Raddesh Roman) took on the role of leader from the gates opened tracked by Brinks with the others jostling for their places. Down the backstretch, it was still Great Trick as Lewis was comfortable on Brinks while waiting on his time to strike. After passing the four-furlong marker, Brinks moved to challenge and then assumed the lead to enter the straight about three to four lengths in front. The challenge came from Morimoto on the outside, who after a change of whip hand by Foster pulled noticeably to the left, thereby losing ground. Brinks went on to a contented victory.
“The performance from Brinks in the Winston Griffiths today was quite fantastic from our standpoint. He had been through a rough campaign. He ran in the Kingston and did run an improved race and was just short of hitting the board at seven-and-a-half furlongs. He came back the following month and was second in the 2000 Guineas. In another month, he came back and he was third in St Leger to Blue Vinyl and Atomica and another month in the Jamaica Derby at 12 furlongs, finishing second to Atomica.
“We were concerned that the workload was going to take its toll and that a fresh horse would give him trouble in this race; it is a competitive race and an important race. We give credit to his rider Reyan Lewis who worked with him every morning. The key was to try and protect him every morning as the horse was fairly happy and fit and wanted to gallop in the mornings, but we had to try to be easy as possible with him so that he would not expend too much energy and reserve him for the work that we did for this race. We had to try and reserve him.
“Brinks’ performance was pretty amazing. Being through such a tough campaign and taking on a rabbit who was out to give him a hard time, and in the straight when Morimoto came forward, there were concerns that Brinks would have backed up, but the jockey was able to roll him over and he duly responded, and in the last half a furlong he looked as though he was inching away.
“We never took this race for granted and prepared him carefully, and the rider was precise in his execution. No matter that everybody had him as the overwhelming favourite, we knew that this race would not be easy. When you go through such a strenuous campaign it is going to take its toll physically, and we worked to make him as comfortable as possible, to put him at his best in this race and he responded in the manner expected.”
The performance of Lewis was a signal for the future. This young man is progressing rapidly and has a calm yet assured demeanour in the saddle. Slowly, Lewis is becoming like Shane Ellis as the jockey of choice for the Classic races. The hope is that he will recognise his current standing, and the work required to maintain consistency by arriving early for exercise, keeping his weigh in check, and simply put, doing the work.
The rise of sire Bern Notice has to be mentioned. The stallion’s offspring finished first (Brinks), third (Perfect Brew), and fourth D Head Cornerstone.
There has to be an admission that the 2022 crop of three-year-olds is a poor one. Remove Atomica, Blue Vinyl, Brinks, and Emperorofthecats from the list as the top achievers, the rest of the three-year-olds are struggling through their conditions.
