KINGSTON, Jamaica - Featured on the nine-race programme and staged as the 11th event was the Information and Communication Technology Department Cup. She’s A Wonder, heroine of the 2021 Jamaica Guineas and Jamaica Oaks, returned after a hiatus exceeding five-and-half months, and having worked well was bet to win at odds of 4/5.
In addition to She’s A Wonder, who could only finish fifth after sharing the headlines for 900 of the 1,300-metre trip, trainer Ian Parsard also presented US-bred Jordon Reign’s (Dane Dawkins). Anthony Thomas aboard Lure of Lucy was lured into a duel with She’s A Wonder, with the pair racing clear of the rivals into the upper stretch.
The early fractions of 22.3 x 45.2 over the initial 800 metres surely took a toll on Lure Of Lucy, who failed to withstand the late burst of finishing speed from Jordon Reign’s (7/1) to succumb close to home by conceding a half a length in the final strides. Dawkins (44 wins) was on his fourth winner of the meet and will go into the next race day ahead of Thomas (43 wins) three race days shy of the halfway point of the 2022 racing year in Jamaica.
Valiant (5-1), a 15-race maiden ridden by Romario Spencer for trainer Derrick Roman, was the strongest finisher in the opening 1200-metre event restricted to starters five-year-old and older. In race two, Jamaican Storm, with one win prior to this his 56th racecourse appearance, arrived in the last 30 metres to deny long-time front runner The Nextbigting (Anthony Thomas) by three parts of a length.
Race three saw Thomas making amends for his undue haste half an hour earlier by sheer dint of patience when holding 1/1 favourite Dallas off the early pace. Tacitly, he secured a clear run on the far rails which he exploited fully for trainer Anthony Smith to move his season’s tally by 100 per cent to two wins.
Claimed by conditioner Fitzgerald Richards on March 22 this year, Balazo (5/2) well ridden by leading apprentice Youville Pinnock in the 1000-metre round fourth event has now won three of five starts for this stable.
Race five, a 1,000-metre straight maiden event confined to three-year-olds, gave champion trainer Anthony Nunes his 27th trip to the winners’ enclosure with Berlino’s Choice (2-1) opening a double for former champion rider Dick Cardenas from in front.
For his second win, Just An Illusion, a speedy little mare, took Cardenas to the front of race six over 1,200 metres. The five-year-old chestnut withstood several challenges in the straight to present trainer Joseph Thomas with his fourth win in 2022 and confirm the rider’s double, rewarding backers $1,000.04 for each $50 dollar ticket staked.
Although he finished lame, Wilfred Chin’s Flight Time (1/1) won the three-year-old maiden seventh event over 1,000 metres straight by a shorthead under Dane Dawkins to get the in-form reinsman rolling. Dawkins had his eventual four-race blitz interrupted by Reyan Lewis partnering 28/1 chance Victoriasmedallion, saddled by Leroy Tomlinson, outsprinting rivals over the 1,000 metres round of the eighth event, restricted to four-year-olds and upwards non-winners of two races.
Dawkins’ heroics resumed in the ninth run over 1,600 metres with 1/2 favourite D Head Cornerstone escaping 14/1 shot Monsieur Blue by three parts of a length for trainer Gary Subratie’s 24th success of the season.
Bred, owned, and trained by Fitzroy Glispie, Prince Marshall (8/5) outstayed nine others comprehensively over the 1,800 metres of race 10. Dawkins, for his third of four, enjoyed the luxury of several glances over his shoulders in the straight and easing down to a winning margin of seven-and-a-half lengths officially.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Fitzgerald Richards for the current form of extremely fractious Balazo, whose latest success came with a tag of $500,000, progressing from $300,000. The Best Winning Gallop was performed by Jordon Reign’s, and Dawkins secures the Jockeyship Award with his tactical acumen and judgement of pace in applying invaluable skills to ensure success.
