The victory by Marquesas ( Coded Warning – Islamora da ) in the 92nd running of the Sagicor Bank Jamaica St Leger brought unqualified joy to his connections.

Breeder Franz Jobson, who was winning his first Classic race, was especially elated.

“This is really exciting. This one is for my father. We have been in racing since the 1940s. We have been in this position before as breeders but, for me, it is the first time as the breeder of a Classic winner.

“I have produced some other winners, but the first time with a Classic horse and I will tell you something, if you look at the breeding of Coded Warning out of Islamorada, it is not guesswork. There is still some guesswork present in a number of things, but here we applied scientific reasoning with the nicking pattern and eventually came up with this line.

“When we put Coded Warning to this mare, some people showed surprise and remarked: ‘How can you put Islamorada to Coded Warning? ‘But it was a scientific approach, probably not exact, but it was a good jumping-off point,” Jobson said.

Jobson was happy to have his first Classic with Michael Marlowe, as he shared that the Marlowes and Jobsons go way back and they have had a good relationship over the years.

“The Marlowes and the Jobsons go way back. Valbert Marlowe, who is the father of Michael, and my father were friends, and my father was instrumental in getting him (Valbert) his apprenticeship as a rider. So we are going back to the 40s. It has been a long association between the Marlowe and the Jobson families.

“I cannot end this interview without mentioning former trainer and breeder Sydney Watson who left us off some time ago as he was also part of that group. He was very close to my father. He was a super horseman and a gentleman,” Jobson said.