The last half-furlong (100m) in the third race on Saturday, February 3, at Caymanas Park, a maiden special weight event over the five-furlong (1,000m) straight course must have surely set David Lee-Sin’s heart racing. That was the moment when Lee-Sin’s charge Hail Mary was inching closer and closer to rivals, and a win here would be his first as a trainer.

It was a nail-biting finish, and Lee-Sin heaved a deep sigh of relief when Hail Mary eventually got home by a neck over Classic Shakree (Ansel Dancel) and Black Hawk (Jerome Innis), who both dead-heated for second place.

Lee-Sin was almost lost for words after the result became clear.

“I am elated. I can’t find the right words to express my feelings right now and I don’t want to say the wrong ones either. But I am very happy and the feeling to have won my first race is wonderful…it is amazing.

“I have been breeding and owning horses for quite a while now. I owned my first in the 1970s named Blue Prince. I migrated in the early 1980s and came back in 2001 and got involved again in the sport in 2005. I have always wanted to become a trainer, and even at my age now, which, is not exactly young, I said ‘why not?’ And today (Saturday) I am standing in the winners’ enclosure with my first winner as a trainer,” Lee-Sin shared.

Commenting on his winner Hail Mary, who was well ridden by Oneil Scott, Lee-Sin said that he was very pleased with the effort.

“I am happy. She [Hail Mary] has had some problems. She’s has tendon problems and so we had to really put in a lot of work on her to get her sound. I am really happy as I bred this horse… I am really ecstatic as I am the breeder, owner and trainer. With this win out of the way, I am hoping for the best in the future,” said Lee-Sin, adding that he has only five horses under his care.

Lee-Sin then shared his life story on how he got involved in the sport of horse racing.

“To be honest with you, I won a bet back in the 1970s, and my brother and I decided that we were going to Orange Valley Estate and invest that money back into horse racing, and that was so. I had bought a triple and all three horses won with an outsider in there, and so you could see I won a decent amount of money.

“That was when we bought Blue Prince and we were quite successful with that horse, and from there on everything just worked out as it is.

“It is just the love of horses that led me here. It is something special, especially when you are the one that breeds the horse…it is something special…you have to love the game to be really involved in it,” he enthused.