Winners’ comments…Winners’ comments…Winners’ comments
The Complete Racing Guide shares the comments of some of the winners on the 11-race programme at Caymanas Park last Saturday.
Owned and trained by Oneil Markland and ridden by Hakeem Pottinger, Vijeeta won the first race over 1,100 metres. Markland said: “The last outing the rider reported that she (Vijeeta) wasn’t ready at the start, hence missing the break. She stayed wide for most of the race and the rider didn’t urge her to go down in the race and was left with too much to do. This time she got a good break, plus there wasn’t much in the race to beat; however, she stayed close to the pace and finished strong.”
Chief Prospect, trained by Rowan Mathie and ridden by Dane Dawkins, won the third race over 1,820 metres. Dawkins said: “The win was good. I knew that we had a very good chance of winning, as in his last race he (Chief Prospect) was running on strong in the last two furlongs over 1,500 metres, and now going longer he had a shot of catching them.”
The Renex Burrell-trained Supreme Magic, under Paul Francis, won the fourth race over 1,400 metres. Francis said: “This horse was well prepared for the race and it was a maiden race, so I knew that it would be smooth sailing to the end. She trained really well coming into the race and she ran well to win quite easily in the end.”
Montegonian, under Chalrick Budhai, won the fifth race over 1,800 metres straight. After the race Budhai said: “The plan coming into the race was to get a good break, sit as close to the leaders as possible and ride for the last three furlongs. I followed the instructions from the trainer and we won, so I give thanks. We were neglected in the betting at odds of 16-1 but that didn’t frighten me, as she trained really well coming into this and the runners were just normal runners, so I rated our chances very high.”
Ruja Lahoe, who rode Old Braeton to victory in the sixth race over 1,400 metres, said: “It is very nice when you win races. I have been putting in some hard work and I am just happy when I am winning races. This horse ran a very good race on last when finishing third over 1,200 metres and now going 200 metres longer, I knew he would run another good race.”
Trained by Lawrence Freemantle and ridden by Shane Ellis, who replaced Wesley Henry, Eternal Joy won the eighth race over 1,100 metres. Ellis said: “First of all, I must thank the trainer for the ride as it was a chance ride. This horse has speed, and it was simply to put her in front and make them run us down. We went in front and no one came for us.”