KINGSTON, Jamaica – The victory by Emperorofthecats at the Overnight Allowance level over the five straight course on Sunday (December 18) carried special significance.
Emperorofthecats was racing for the first time since September 3, that’s 106 days as his connections undertook remedial work. The win on Sunday was his fifth from 11 starts with lifetime earnings of just over $4 million.
Trained, bred, and owned by Carl Anderson, Emperorofthecats with the Sunday victory became the first of this year’s crop of local three-year-olds to go through the set conditions and reach the grade of Open Allowance.
However, there is a qualification to the above sentence. Emperorofthecats is the first of the locally bred three-year-olds, who did not win one of the five Classic races to reach Open Allowance.
This is so because in the system of racing in Jamaica when a three-year-old wins a Classic race (1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Jamaica St Leger, Jamaica Derby, Jamaica Oaks) they are automatically placed in the Open Allowance grade.
To reach Open Allowance, Emperorofthecats had to go through all the classes (maiden, non-two, non-three, and basically non-four) before reaching Overnight. A win in Overnight Allowance earns an automatic place in Open Allowance.
It has to be noted that there are other three-year-olds, who have reached Open Allowance going through the classes as well, but these are foreign-bred horses. Foreign bred three-year-olds are not allowed to participate in the local Classic offerings, and in addition, they all begin their local careers at the non-winners of two level.
The two notables from the foreign three-year-old stock to reach Open Allowance are Runaway Algo and Madelyn’s Sunshine.
The achievement of Emperorofthecats speaks to his natural ability and the care provided by his connections. Well Done!
