A lot has been written and said about the record-setting filly She’s A Maneater who, in the space of 11 months, has soared above all anticiapted heights and has exceeded mortal expectations.

The fact that She’s A Maneater won the Triple Crown (1,000 Guineas, the Jamaica Derby, and the Jamaica St Leger) would have been more than enough to secure a special place in the record books, but when you add the Superstakes, then you are approaching hallowed racing ground. She was the first filly to achieve that feat, thereby joining the ranks of her vaunted male companions, The Viceroy and Mark My Word.

As if that was not enough for this remarkable thoroughbred, She’s A Maneater proceeded to raise the bar to new and unimaginable loftiness. Her victory on Saturday, December 2, 2017, in the richest race in the history of local racing — the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission and Supreme Ventures-sponsored Diamond Mile — opened a pristine new page in racing history which even learned scribes are finding difficult to assess and quite daunting to place in proper context.

The five races — Triple Crown, Superstakes, and Diamond Mile — represent the Holy Grail of local racing; no one can dispute that unassailable fact, and for one horse to win those races in a single year is from the top drawer… the very top. For a three-year-old, and a filly to boot, to win those five races represents the final frontier of racing achievement. She’s A Maneater has boldly gone where no horse has gone before.

Yet, as expected, there are naysayers. Some pundits have openly made the point that She’s A Maneater just happens to be born at the right time when the stock of truly genuine ‘A’ Class horses is way below those that paraded their skills at the Park in days of yore.

These pundits point to the fact that in the Diamond Mile She’s A Maneater benefited from such a fast pace — 1:09.4 for six furlongs (1,200m) — that the horses in front were coming back at a more rapid rate than she was going forward thereby trying to establish that the filly’s extra acceleration was not the main factor in her triumph. These pundits submit the time of the last two furlongs — 27 seconds — as ample proof of their argument that She’s A Maneater was just born lucky and the Diamond Mile pace suited her to the bone.

In any assessment or argument about the ability of She’s A Maneater, one must remember that she has had a gruelling Classic campaign — a circumstance which has weakened the legs of so many contenders before her. In addition, considering her exploits in the Superstakes, just three weeks before the Diamond Mile, it is remarkable for a filly, at this time of the year, to maintain her form, composure and the sheer will to win.

She’s A Maneater has now dispensed with the ordinary in one fell swoop. By winning the Diamond Mile she has risen to the top of the pantheon of great thoroughbreds produced on this island, and we will all be better off if we acknowledge this exceptional moment in time.

This writer says boldly, and with robust acclamation, that it was good to be alive on Saturday, December 2, 2017, to witness and absorb when She’s A Maneater broke through the barrier of male domination and literally charted a new and exciting course in the achievement of greatness.

We will never be able to remove what is now indelibly etched in history: She’s A Maneater is the first horse, male or female, to ever win the Triple Crown, Superstakes and Diamond Mile in the same calendar year.

That this filly is talented, packed with supreme class and grit must be accepted as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She’s A Maneater must now be accepted as the chosen one, and as one who has her hooves firmly planted on hallowed racing ground.

The thunderous roar that rose from the overcrowded stands of Caymanas Park on Saturday when she passed the winning post six-and-a-half lengths ahead of her nearest rival confirms that the loyal punters who trek to the racetrack every race day have embraced her with open hearts and minds. They know that She’s A Maneater represents the new and exciting measurement of greatness.

More anon!