ROBERT Halledeen rode a superb race on Fabulousconnection to a blanket-finish win in the feature Roderick ‘Pilot’ Francis Memorial Trophy, sponsored by B & D Trawling, over 1,200 metres at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Fabulousconnection broke well and was sent to the lead before being challenged by Marci The Butcher (Omar Walker) passing the 300-metre pole. He eventually gave up the lead turning for home, with Gold Rush (O’Brien White) taking over and looking like the winner a furlong out, but Halledeen produced Fabulousconnection for another gear to nip Gold Rush on the line, winning by a short head with the fast-finishing Notus (Orlando Foster) getting third.

They covered the distance in 1.17.3 minutes.

“This is my horse, I know how to ride him… he has a big heart and is a fighter and so I rode him as usual and he won,” Halledeen said.

Fabulousconnection is an eight-year-old dark bay gelding by Skipping-Spirit Of Jamaica by Quiet American, owned by Basil Wade, trained by Phillip Elliot and bred by Jack Delisser. He was winning his second race for the season from three starts with lifetime earnings of just over $4 million.

Rock Union returned from a 266-day break and romped the first race, a Restricted Allowance race for native-bred four-year-olds and upwards over 1,000 metres straight. Ridden by Shane Ellis, the Anthony Nunes-trained dark bay gelding drew away from rivals to win comfortably by six lengths from This Is It (Dick Cardenas) and Prince Oshaun (Paul Francis) in third. Rock Union covered the distance in a smart time of 58.1 seconds.

Orlando Foster took the jockeys’ honours by riding two winners — Karbina for trainer Rudolph Hardial in the third, and Sango in the seventh race for trainer Anthony Nunes, who also had two winners to top the trainers.

Racing continues this Saturday with the running of the Thornbird Stakes, the final major prep race for the three-year-old fillies leading up to the 1,000 Guineas in early April.