KINGSTON, Jamaica – The highly-rated races with the big horses were not around but the racing was exciting sometimes at fever pitch with closes finishes involving the top jockeys and some searing upsets which spread eagled many of the exotic wagers.
Plus, karma played its role in another manner as it was another dead heat situation for trainer Jason DaCosta this time for second place in the eighth race.
THE JOCKEYS
Saturday, May 29, 2021 was when the pigskin dominance of Dick Cardenas and Anthony Thomas came to the fore. The two shared five winners (Thomas three) and Cardenas two) from the nine races on offer for a more than 50 per cent share of the total winners on the day.
Thomas and Cardenas were involved in close and dramatic finishes which shook the stands at the Park.
In the first race, Cardenas on Disoa De Oro beat Thomas on Eddie’s Princess by a short head. In between the first and the last race (ninth), Cardenas won a second on Code of Honor and Thomas visited the winners’ enclosure on My Time Now and Allan.
Then came the showdown in the nightcap, with Thomas on Super Duper and Cardenas on Sure Curlin. In a driving finish, Thomas returned the favour to Cardenas getting
the nod on the line by half-a-length.
While Thomas and Cardenas dominated among the jockey let’s not forget the win by Samantha Fletcher on Prince Sammo, her fifth of the year but in the newly
minted category in the quarterly championship for women, Fletcher is tied with Natalie Berger on two wins each.
The present standings in the jockeys’ championship::
(Top five as of May 29, 2021)
JOCKEYS NUMBER OF WINS
Anthony Thomas 49
Dane Nelson 42
Dick Cardenas 18
Youville Pinnock 16
Omar Walker 14
THE TRAINERS
Jason DaCosta continued his Relentless winning march with a double, My Time Now in the seventh and Super Duper in the ninth.
The conditioning and first race appearance of Super Duper must have been pleasing for the young conditioner as this three-year-old bay filly has been through a bit in her
quest to first get back on the track and then to actually win a race.
Based on preliminary calculations, DaCosta who received his local licence in April of this year has with his double today (May 29) saddled 18 winners and is now occupying the third slot in the trainers’ championship behind champion Anthony Nunes and second-placed Gary Subratie in both the win and stakes columns.
The present standings in the trainers’ championship per number of wins:
(Top five as of May 29, 2021 – most wins)
TRAINERS NUMBER OF WINS
Anthony Nunes 27
Gary Subratie 21
Jason DaCosta 18
Ian Parsard 16
Steven Todd 15
THE DEAD HEAT KARMA
It was a day for dead heat reflection by trainer DaCosta.
On May 8 in the Kingston Cup, the one-mile event was declared a dead heat by the placing judges involving Miniature Man trained by DaCosta and Further and Beyond trained by Nunes.
Since then, there has been controversy and much talk, especially on social media regarding the final decision of the judges with many including pundits saying the decision was incorrect. The Jamaica Racing Commission’s First Instance Tribunal is currently investigating that particular dead heat saga.
Then on Saturday (May 29) karma revisited DaCosta with yet another dead heat situation this time, not for first place but when his charge Elitist (Anthony Thomas) and KD Rocket (Dane Dawkins) were deemed to have dead-heated for second place behind Helicopter (Chalrick Budhai) in the eighth race.
THE BETTING
The upsetters in three of the nine races sank many an exotic wager. They were:
Allan at 7-1 – one of the rare occasions Anthony Thomas was winning at such long odds;
Prince Sammo at 11-1; and the killer blow
Helicopter at 46-1.
Yet despite these longish and long odds winners, there were still 17 winners of the mandatory payout in the Reggae-6 (Races 1-6) with each receiving take-home money of $645,120 each.
The Reggae-6 winners and their odds were;
Race 1 - Diosa De Oro – 8-5
Race 2 - Allan 7-1
Race 3 - Code of Honor 3-1
Race 4 - Prince Sammo 11-1
Race 5 - Rising Saint 5-2
Race 6 - Original Train 5-2
Then there was the Twilight-6 (Races 4-9) which had four winners with each receiving $723,057.
The Twilight-6 winners and their odds were;
Prince Sammo – 11-1
Rising Saint – 5-2
Original Train 5-2
My Time Now 4-5
Helicopter 46-1
Super Duper 8-5
