Walker’s treble pulls him closer to 100
CHAMPION jockey Omar Walker rode his seventh winner in two racedays at Caymanas Park on Wednesday with a three-timer to set his sights on reaching another 100 winners for the season.
Riding in immaculate form, Walker had the leg up on Storm Tracker in the second and Alexandra’s Spirit in the sixth and brought the curtains down with 5-2 shot Grand Cabaret in the eighth and final race to raise his tally to 90 for the season.
He narrowly achieved this figure last year after being out of the saddle for three month following a serious spill during a race on the backstretch.
Jockey Dick Cardenas also rode three winners to share riding honours with Walker, while the Victor Williams-trained Dynamic Move practically went from gate to wire to win the $715,000 Lester Saunders Memorial Trophy two-year-old feature by 3 1/4 lengths.
Cardenas’ winners were Salute To Mom in the first for trainer Patrick Lynch; he then piloted Nasatol to his 30th win at Caymanas Park for trainer Lazel Khwalsingh in the fourth and then crowned a useful afternoon atop Dwight Chen’s Prince Theo in the $786,000 Overnight Allowance event over 1,100 metres.
It was the ninth win from 16 starts for the season for the nine-year-old grey gelding Nasatol, which puts him two away from equalling the Caymanas Park record held by Master Blaster.
Meanwhile Dynamic Move, bred and owned by Lone, ran 1,400 metres in 1:28.2 to open his winning account from five starts among maiden two-year-olds.
It was also the first win for trainer Williams for the season. Seven ran. Not one to lead, as he has demonstrated in his earlier races, the bay colt by Summit Storm out of Hello Baby (Schism) shot from barrier #2 to go for the lead which got.
From then on, he alternated the lead for brief periods with Champion Links and then Shyana before pulling away in the stretch to win by 3 1/4 after he was asked a serious question by jockey Devon A Thomas.
Erasmo, the 9-2 third favourite, burst from the pack to take second under Cardenas, with Shyana — who pointed briefly in the stretch drive after turning for home under claiming apprentice Richard Mairs as a 9-2 betting option — finishing third.
Princechad, the 3-1 second favourite, closed out the frame with Shane Ellis in the saddle.
