Crucial Appeal, known for speed, surprisingly came off the pace and stormed past rivals in the last half-furlong to land the Open Allowance Audley Shaw Trophy feature in fine style at Caymanas Park yesterday.

The seven-year-old chestnut gelding was held somewhat off the pace by jockey Dane Nelson as Sir Budget (Anthony Thomas), Polly B (Javaniel Patterson) and Dreamliner (Jerome Innis) dictated the early fractions of 22.2 and 44.3 seconds.

When Nelson, the man known for his bustling riding style in the saddle, asked Crucial Appeal to really run the last half of the race, the top-class sprinter exploded like a burst of electric energy and powered past rivals emphatically to win by two and-three-quarter lengths in the three-year-olds and upward event.

Gary Glitter (Rayan Wilson) also produced a late run to finish in second place ahead of the tiring Sir Budget in third and the ever- prominent Nuclear Affair (Percival Williams) in fourth.

Owned by Hamark Farms and trained by Dwight Chen, Crucial Appeal (Crucial Trial- Late Appeal), who was sent off as the 6-5 favourite, ran 1,000 metres straight in a quick 56.4 seconds, just three-fifth of a second slower than the track record of 56.1 seconds.

The record is jointly owned by Musical Maestro, Minister Of Justice and Talented Tony K.

“I was pretty much easy on him (Crucial Appeal) and he still ran a fast time. If I had moved him more the track record would have been shattered,” Nelson told the Jamaica Observer.

It was the second winner on the card for Nelson as he earlier won aboard the Gary Crawford-trained Meet Justin in the fourth race over 1,500 metres.

Meanwhile, Supreme Magic, under Shamaree Muir, rallied to beat Reign Over All (Aaron Chatrie) by a head in the supporting feature, the Roderick “Pilot” Francis Memorial Trophy over 1,200 metres.

The final time was 1:15.2 minutes. Racing continues next Saturday, the first race day under the management of new promoter, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited.

— Ruddy Allen