Following three tidy performances since arriving in Jamaica, the English-bred Kalamata eventually got off the mark on the fourth occasion with a victory in the Royal Dad Trophy over nine furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m) at Caymanas Park on Saturday.

The win although expected for the Fitznahum Williams-trained filly was a hard-fought effort as Kalamata had to pull out all the stops to get home by a neck over stable companion Western Warrior.

“I expected her to win and as she ( Kalamata) came through her preparation very well and even though she was coming off a layoff of two months and some weeks, she accomplished her task.

“I had to correct some things with her after the race against Bigdaddykool in early August and I also did some work with her so that she would quicken her stride, and it showed in her time which was pretty decent coming off a layoff,” Williams said in a post-race interview.

With a strong hand from jockey Robert Halledeen, the four-year-old bay filly ( Sir Percy – Kalamkas by Kingmambo) sat comfortably in third for most of the way before making a telling move at the half-mile.

However, like she has always done, Kalamata took a while to quicken in the homestretch before eventually getting up to register her first win on Jamaican soil, and by all indications there could be more to come.

She got the better of stable companion Western Warrior (Wesley Henry) by a neck, with Dontae (Dick Cardenas) and Blue Tradition (O’Brien White up) completing the frame.

Kalamata completed the journey in 1:55.4, behind splits of 26.3, 51.3, 1:15.3 and 1:41.2.

“I knew she ( Kalamata) was going to come really hard at the final furlong, so Western Warrior had nowhere to go once she got going. But he ( Western Warrior) is a very brave horse and has been running good, so I knew he would have given Kalamata some work to do,” Williams noted.

Though reluctant to say what would be the next assignment for his charge, Williams pointed out that the work continues with the M & S Syndicate-owned filly.

“This horse stays forever as you can see, so the plan was always to get her over a distance of ground, but for now we go back and continue working with her to see if we can get her to quicken up some more, and then we will see how she responds when next at the races,” he ended.