Victory at last
The team of Pete Spence and Julian Spence (not related) overturned their fourth-place finish last year to win this year’s running of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC)-sponsored ‘Gimmick’ Race over a furlong (100m) on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at Caymanas Park.
Running from the number four draw, Pete wearing the harness with Julian as the jockey — broke well from the starting gates and then matched strides with the pair of Winston Beckford and Brittany Martin inside the final 25 yards before Pete out-dipped Beckford for the win.
Pete and Julian pocketed the $40,000 first prize, while Beckford and Martin received $35,000 for their efforts. The third-placed pair of Kemar James and Shakira Beckford received $25,000, with Jermaine Polson and Kerry-Ann Nelson finishing fourth and was rewarded with a sum of $20,000.
The race attracted an original field of 11 starters, but was reduced to seven as the pairs of Reon Patterson and Cassandra Patterson, Reon Smith and Shaday Watson, Kristoff Smith and Anna Rose, and Kenneth Marriott and Sharon Reid were late non-starters.
Julian, who attended the GC Foster College for Physical Education and Sports and plays football at the national level, said that the key to their victory was a good start.
“It is a great feeling to win this race because the last time we came fourth and I knew that we were better than most of the competitors, but it just happened we were fourth. This time around we decided to come harder at them.
“The start was much better this year; we came out of the gates in last position in 2017 and failed to get up in time, but today (Wednesday) we came out of the starting gates running about in first or second position and that was it,” the 24-year-old Julian said.
Pete, a past student of the Bridgeport High School in Portmore, St Catherine, was also happy for the improvement this year.
“It was a great feeling to have won this race this year. The plan was to get a good break, I mean, the last time I walked out and finished fourth, and so if I could get a better start here, then I knew that we would be right there challenging for the top spot and eventually we came out the winners, and I am happy for that,” he said.