KINGSTON, Jamaica - D Head Cornerstone, after finishing a respectable fourth in the recent Jamaica Derby, returned to defeat rivals in the $980,000 Caymanas Park 1959 trophy feature race on Sunday, August 21, 2022.
The son of Bern Identity out of Soul Of The Heart, D Head Cornerstone came from behind horses to win by 4¾ lengths going away in the three-year-old and upwards (non-winners of two) contest going a (1,600m). D Head Cornerstone won in a time of 1:40.3 with fractions of 23.3 x 46.2 x 1:11.4.
Trainer Gary Subratie said he was encouraged with the progress of his charge and that D Head Cornerstone should continue to improve with each race.
“I feel good as it is nice to get a win. I am very pleased with the run from D Head Cornerstone — I mean, this horse ran fourth in the Jamaica Derby and fourth in the Jamaica St Leger, so I expected him to win on Sunday.
“I am definitely satisfied with the performance as he came through good for the win. He was at the back of the field — that’s how he likes it — and at the half-mile, that’s when he starts to get going. He ran as expected as we didn’t force him up in the early pace,” Subratie said.
Subratie then revealed that the next assignment for the D Head Cornerstone will be in the September 3, Winston “Fanna” Griffiths Classic.
That event is a 9½-furlong (1900m) event for native-bred, three-year-olds, non-winners of a Grade 1 race, allowing a maximum field of 12 for a total purse of $3.75 million.
“Following this win there is a race coming up next month, the Winston “Fanna” Griffiths Classic — there is where we are going,” Subratie said.
D Head Cornerstone was held by Anthony Thomas in mid-pack behind Power of Faith (Oshane Nugent), who led ahead of Thirtyonekisses (Christopher Mamdeen), Prince Sanjay (Jerome Innis), and Unruly Dude (Dane Dawkins) down the backstretch.
A three-year-old bay colt, D Head Cornerstone made his move on the leaders, slipping down in fourth place while navigating the half-mile (800m) turn as Unruly Dude surged to the front in an attempt to steal a march on the field approaching the home bend.
D Head Cornerstone hugged the inside rails, cut the turn coming into the lane for the drive, and when asked to really run by Thomas, muscled his way to a comfortable win. Unruly Dude finished second, some 5 lengths ahead of favourite Real Boss (Reyan Lewis) in third place.
