DEO Valente collared the 15-1 chance Priest King in the drive before going on to win the $715,000 Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association Of Jamaica Trophy feature by 2 1/4 lengths at Caymanas Park yesterday.

It was a win which trainer Wayne DaCosta had anticipated and he thoroughly enjoyed the outcome.

“He had two good runs before the race and worked well coming into it. He then ran as well as I had expected and am pleased with the performance,” DaCosta said.

A 3-1 chance, Deo Valente ran 1,400 metres in a time of 1:27.0.

Owned by Elizabeth Dacosta, Deo Valente was quickly off and running but settled in second as Jarreau, ridden by Richard Mitchell, took the field along at a fast clip.

Leaving the 800 metres, jockey Dane Nelson put Deo Valente in front, but it was Priestking, ridden by Andre Martin, who brought them in the lane with Deo Valente scrubbing the running rails second.

Looking to have much in hand after turning for home third, the eventual winner continued to press the leader until gaining the upper-hand deep into the final 16th before going on to win.

Preistking had distance himself from the rest of the field to hold on for second, while Military Move, a 99-1 shot, had more legs than his other rivals and came on to show under Clive Lynch another three lengths back.

Stormy Cat completed the frame under claiming apprentice Chaldrick Budhai as a 40-1 bet in the field of 13.

Deo Valente, a chestnut gelding by War Marshall out of Did We Win (Patton) and bred by Henry Jaghai, was winning for the second time from four career starts and earned $390,400 as the winner’s share for earnings of $819,800 lifetime.

Meanwhile, leading and champion trainer DaCosta was the leading trainer with two winners on the 10-race card, while Nelson, who also rode the 3-2 chance Galactus in the first race for DaCosta, shared riding honours with Paul Francis, who had the leg up on Hermoso Amigo for trainer Noel Ennevor in the second and Nyabinghi in the seventh for trainer Peter McMaster.