PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — Nominee proved that he is the big man on the turf when horse racing continued last Saturday at Santa Rosa Park, Arima.

The American-bred five-year-old maintained his unbeaten record on the surface after he prevailed in the Eric “Colt” Durant Memorial, feature attraction of the 10-race card.

Nominee was overtaken in the race for favouritism just before the start by Bigman In Town, but he did not allow the same thing to happen on the track.

The Trinidad Derby Stakes winner was breathing down his neck when they turned for home in the 1,700-metre contest. But Nominee started to pull away in the stretch and coasted home by 3 _ lengths and became the third of four winners during the afternoon for Emile Ramsammy.

Gold Cup runner-up Bigman In Town was actually nosed out for second by Kidz Ro, while Buffalo Soldier was fourth and Crime Of Passion, fifth, in the 1,700-metre contest.

Both Bigman In Town, the 8/5 favourite who won four of his five starts in Trinidad to be crowned Horse of the Year last season, and Crime Of Passion were racing for the first time on turf.

The Kenneth De Silva Jr-trained Nominee, sent off at odds of 2/1, stopped the clock in a very good time of 1:41.20 seconds as he completed his hat-trick on the turf.

Nominee and Bigman In Town are both nominated for the Sandy Lane Gold Cup in Barbados, but after his Jamaican-bred chestnut finished third yesterday, owner Baskaran Bassawh stated that he will not be competing be at the Garrison Savannah on March 8.

Nominee and Ramsammy had to share the spotlight with the Jamaican-bred three-year-old Momentum, who put his American-bred contemporaries in their place in the seventh event.

With champion jockey Brian Boodramsingh in the saddle, last year’s St James Stakes hero completed a hat-trick of victories and kept his unbeaten record intact with a smooth 3 _-length triumph in the 1,200-metre contest.