THE Anthony Nunes-conditioned Alacrann came with his usual late-running style against the rails to land the 103rd running of the Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes at Caymanas Park yesterday.

The graded stakes event for native-bred two-year-olds over 1,600 metres was the third leg of the SVL-rich Two-Year-Olds ‘Triple Crown’ series valued at $10.8 million, which started on Heroes’ Day. No horse was able to win all three races, thus the $1-million bonus was not given out. Last year, Princess Popstar won all three races but was not eligible for the bonus as she did not go through the 2012 Yearling Sales.

Ridden by the three-time champion jockey Dane Nelson, Alacrann (Traditional – Maria’s Appeal by Maria’s Mom) took the event with an electrifying run to score by three-and-a-quarter lengths and confirmed himself as the top two-year-old for the 2014 season.

The well-bred Ali Baba (Paul Francis up) finished second, and the speedy filly Come Dance With Me (Shane Ellis aboard), who won the first leg of the series, was third with the talented colt Polly B, the mount of Robert Halledeen, completing the frame in a time of 1:39:2 minutes.

Nelson, the man racing fans dubbed as the ‘Warrior Chief’, said that he was merely a pilot aboard the Brian Harold Murray-bred Alacrann.

“The race wasn’t that difficult as once my horse got a clean break, that was it. Leaving the four furlongs I had a lot of horse in hand, so I was very confident in victory as when I turned for home I saw that the inside was open. So I just took the shortest route to the winning post,” Nelson told The Jamaica Observer.

Nunes was also confident of victory.

“Alacrann has been moving nicely in the mornings and so coming into this race I was pretty much confident that he could get the job done,” Nunes said.

Nelson held Alacrann in mid-pack for most of the way behind expected leaders Polly B and Come Dance With Me with Ali Baba settled into third position leaving the 1,200-metre pole.

When asked to go by Nelson, the roar from the crowd at the Park went with Alacrann approaching the 800-metre mark. Turning for home in fourth position, Alacrann responded well from the urging of Nelson — who is known for his bustling riding style — and he drew away from the field for an emphatic victory — his second in this series.

Owned by Stephan Narinesingh, Alacrann was winning for the third time this season from five starts and pocketed $2,750,000 as the winner’s share for career earnings of $5,753,900.

By virtue of yesterday’s win by Alacrann, Elite Bloodstock Limited has now been confirmed as the 2014 champion owner.