Royal Vibes wins feature, part of four-timer for Carlton Watson
ROYAL Vibes was in invincible form as he dominated the feature event at Caymanas Park yesterday, the City of Kingston Centenary Cup, over one mile.
It was really not a race as Dick Cardenas, the rider of Royal Vibes, simply waited and watched Hombre cut the factions from in front before sweeping past at the top of the lane for a four-length win in a time of 1:40.1 minutes.
Hombre on tired legs in the final furlong finished second with Sparkle Haven third.
Royal Vibes is trained by Wayne DaCosta and is owned by newly crowned champion owner Carlton Watson, who received the City of Kingston Centenary Cup from Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Angela Brown-Burke. Watson was the toast of the Park with four winners, including a natural hat-trick — Jovoun The Master, Royal Vibes and Mr Luval. His other winner was Spic N Span, ridden by Trevor Simpson.
“My gosh, what more can I ask for? It is a wonderful feeling; not many owners have done this feat, and I am extremely happy to experience such a moment. It’s now 11 winners in just over two weeks,” a smiling and jubilant Watson commented.
Trainer Richard Azan is obviously on a mission these days. Horses trained by Azan have been dominating the races for three-year-olds and yesterday he unleashed the much-heralded Cognac for the perusal of racing enthusiasts. And Cognac did not disappoint after taking the lead from the off in the 1,000 metres Maiden Special Weight event, he was never really challenged, skittering away in the straight for an expanding five-length win.
Dane Nelson did the duties for the 1:01.2 minutes it took Cognac to complete the race. Cognac is yet another progeny of first-season stallion Adore The Gold.
Commenting on the first-time run of Cognac, Nelson was very upbeat. “This is a really nice horse. He was not all-out today (yesterday), but he is a nice horse with lots of scope for improvement.” As for Azan, his comment was short and spicy, “Cognac is a good horse.”
Azan’s dominance of the three-year-old races started in the first of the 11 races on offer, when he had an upset win by Frangipani, who went off at odds of 8-1. Frangipani beat her odds on stablemate Zeeva and Israelite, and in the process provided a rare win for jockey Delroy Beharie.
In the trainers and jockeys categories, DaCosta came up trumps with three winners (Royal Vibes, Mr Luval, and Italiano) while Cardenas notched a fine triple, all for DaCosta.
The next raceday is scheduled for Saturday, January 18.
