You just can’t intimidate horses at the end of a 12-furlong race – Anthony Nunes
It was a case of mixed emotions for trainer Anthony Nunes, after registering his fourth Derby success when his charge Orpheus was awarded the 96th running of the Cal’s-sponsored event in dramatic fashion at Caymanas Park last Saturday.
Orpheus, the mount of Shane Ellis, had initially finished third behind the Wayne DaCosta-trainedFuture King ridden by Robert Halledeen and stablemateBigdaddykool (Linton Steadman).
However, after a lengthy inquiry (over half an hour) and a double jockey’s objection,
Future King, and second past the postBigdaddykool were both disqualified by the officiating race day stewards of the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC), and the race was awarded to the Elias Haloute-ownedOrpheus.
Future King was disqualified for causing interference and intimidation to bothOrpheus andBigdaddykool in the final 400 metres, whileBigdaddykool was disqualified for causing interference toOrpheus leaving the 800-metre mark.
Future King was disqualified and placed third.
“It is not the ideal way you want to win a Derby, obviously I would have loved to see the three horses run down stretch and the best horse win. But you just can’t intimidate horses at the end of a 12-furlong race because they (the horses) are tired and even a slight bit of intimidation will see them quit.
“I was actually pretty proud that my horses didn’t give up, they kept trying, but they were running sideways and weren’t given the opportunity to run straight,” Nunes told the
Complete Racing Guide.
“It is always nice to win a Derby. I thought that I had two very good horses in the race as did Wayne DaCosta, but I would have loved to see a straight out stretch duel to determine the winner the right way. I don’t think there will be much celebrating, to tell you the truth, it is just giving thanks and moving on,” he added.
It was noticeable that both Ellis and Steadman lost their whips during the course of the race.
“I don’t think any of my jockeys did anything wrong.
Bigdaddykool actually walked out of the starting gate which was a first for him and I was shocked at that.
“But Linton (Steadman) didn’t panic. He responded by bringing him quietly down on the backstretch and almost ran up into the back of
Sorrentino’s Star, hence the interference with Orpheus.
“So that was the only thing – down the lane they both hit each other’s whip out of their hands and I just think that it was two competitors just battling to try and win the Jamaica Derby,” he ended.
