Making his sixth start and wearing the figure eight for the first time, Woodhouse discharged a warning shot to break his maiden, winning the Royal Lancaster Trophy secondary feature on the United Racehorse Trainers’ Association of Jamaica (URTA) Race Day at Caymanas Park on Saturday.

In a maiden special weight contest for native-bred two-year-old colts and geldings going over five furlongs (1,000m) on the round course, Woodhouse, trained by Richard Azan for owner NYA and ridden by Dick Cardenas for the first time, began to burn as he broke smartly from the gates, but finished with restraint to take the event in a time of 1:01.2.

Trainer Azan then spoke with guarded optimism of the first serious competitive effort of Woodhouse.

“He is fitter now after having a couple of races, he is now much fitter. Following the run, the jockey told me that the colt wants to run a little longer. That is encouraging, so we will take our time to give him time to develop and see how things go. Time will tell how good he is, but for now we are going to take it day by day and see what he is made of,” Azan said.

A bay colt by Emperor Hall out of the Golden Token mare Gold Flinger, Woodhouse showed for the first time that he could eventually develop a budding racing career in a workmanlike manner.

Galloping with great freedom of movement, Woodhouse displayed appreciation for the change of equipment, and won as though he will in future enjoy it even more when the distance increases. Without being seriously challenged, he won by 2 ¾ lengths from K J Express, trained by Anthony Nunes and ridden by Javaniel Patterson. First-timer Nuclear Dandada trained by Gary Subratie and ridden by Dane Dawkins was third, while Timetosaygoodbye ridden by Ruja Lahoe completed the frame.

Cardenas declared: “The colt could prove more than useful when the distance is increased, even against better company. He does, however, need time to fully develop, and this was his first real sign of showing what he is about for the future.”