KINGSTON, Jamaica – The first staging of THE KINGSTON, a 7 ½ furlong event for three-year-old colts and geldings takes place tomorrow (May 8) at Caymanas Park.
Twelve horses have been nominated to face the starter.
You can automatically rule out of any winning reckoning maiden Dancingwiththebreeze, Rusty, T Brady, Regal, and Royal and Johncrowjeff.
That leaves seven runners of which the following are considered as the second tier. These include Miniature Man, Curlin’s Affair, and Daddy Jones.
Miniature Man is changing his course of delivery on the racetrack from being a sprinter to one better suited to the longer distances. That might well be true but Miniature Man is not ready to handle these as yet.
Daddy Jones is a big strapping colt who was manhandled by Miniature Man at a mile on April 17 and despite some encouraging efforts at exercise needs more time for development.
Curlin’s Affair has raced only two times and did well to finish fourth behind Further and Beyond, Billy Whizz, and Calculus (in that order) in the 7-furlong Prince Consort Stakes. Curlin’s Affair since that April 8 encounter has been making strides at exercise with many rail birds giving him a true outsider’s chance of winning. The Quickgallop.com analyst instead prefers to wait. Curlin’s Affair best result is hitting the board.
Having dealt with those automatically ruled out and the second-tier horses there is the last four from which the winner of THE KINGSTON should come from.
These are Billy Whizz, Calculus, Further and Beyond and Regnant.
Billy Whizz ran his heart out and just failed to get by Further and Beyond in the Prince Consort. The extra half-a-furlong is going to be liked by Billy Whizz who is getting weight from Further and Beyond. This is Billy Whizz’s best-ever chance to beat his perennial foe Further and Beyond.
Calculus won the Sir Howard (6 furlongs) and although finishing third in the Prince Consort the effort could have been better. Calculus-based on his running style should benefit from the extra real estate of THE KINGSTON. Do not rule out the chances of Calculus because of one below-par effort.
Regnant is the mystery horse in THE KINGSTON line-up. Regnant has raced three times and was victorious twice at five furlongs straight and 6 ½ furlongs. Regnant, who seemingly has ability did not participate in the Prince Consort leaving many to speculate. If Regnant is fit and healthy he can have a shout-out in this one.
Further and Beyond is the champion two-year-old of last year and has the most wins (four) of all the competitors in THE KINGSTON.
When he made his seasonal debut in the Prince Consort it was obvious that he was not fighting ready but has since stepped up on his work and is now ready to make his assault on the Classics. Further and Beyond is THE QUICK GALLOPER’S choice to win THE KINGSTON.
