Jockey Roderick DaCosta remembers his part in winning the 1989 1000 Guineas on Lady Geeta
The brilliant filly Lady Geeta , owned by Myna Nagrani, trained by Willoughby Simpson and ridden by Roderick DaCosta, rose to prominence when she won the 1989 1000 Guineas run for fillies only.
DaCosta remembers with great fondness, the 1000 Guineas win by Lady Geeta.
“To speak of Lady Geeta brings back wholesome and pleasant memories. She was a winning filly for me and I won the Guineas on her. She was always willing to go for me whenever I asked her for that winning effort and it was so sad when she passed away while in foal.
“I know if she had lived, she would have produced a few good horses to follow in her footsteps. It was so sad with her passing.
“In her racing days she made her mark and was a great horse to ride. Any jockey would have loved to ride her,” DaCosta said.
DaCosta shared how it started for him and Lady Geeta.
“In those days, I was riding for trainer Willoughby Simpson and owner Ram Nagrani and, I always did well for the trainer and because of the trust he had in me to get the job done, he always gave me a shot on his good horses.
“In light of this, we developed a good working relationship with each other. This, coupled with an understanding between us, we formed a good malleable team spirit.
“I first rode Lady Geeta as a maiden filly. Following this, I went on to win a couple races with her including the 1000 Guineas.
“I was, however, replaced for the Oaks by Winston Griffiths but she lost that race. I was then promptly recalled to the saddle for her next race and I again won on her,” DaCosta proudly mentioned.
Apart from the 1000 Guineas, DaCosta said he also had big race success on Lady Geeta in the Caribbean Championship, winning the sprint event on two consecutive occasions.
“After winning the 1989 Caribbean Sprint dash, Lady Geeta returned the following year to take the event for the second year in succession in a blanket finish involving the highly thought of three-year-old colt Regent Gold and the Trinidadian filly, Melanie Samantha.
“It was a day of pomp and pride for the thousands of spectators and the connections who turned out to cheer home Lady Geeta for a masterful and memorable display by a local thoroughbred, on the under card of a special race day, at the English-speaking Caribbean racing Mecca,” DaCosta said.
