Lady Blue recaptured some of her early promise with a gutsy performance in the day’s feature among Restricted Stakes company on Saturday, August 17, at Caymanas Park.

The talented chestnut filly won the O&S Tack Room Trophy by a half a length over Top Shelf, as the 2-1 second favourite, in a time of 1:21.1 going six and a half furlongs (1,300 metre. Universal Boss finished third as the 1-2 favourite.

Lady Blue by Blue Pepsi Lodge – The Vibes Lady, trained by Wayne DaCosta for owner Carlton Watson, defied doubters after entering the event under a cloud regarding her full fitness and ability to complete the race. This was after an earlier knee injury had prevented her from working with her usual gusto coming into most of her races.

In the post-race interview with The Supreme Racing Guide, DaCosta explained the situation with his charge.

“She definitely ran with a lot of courage today, August 17. She showed a lot of class at the beginning of the year but unfortunately, she chipped a bone in her knee and that was why you saw her in many races and not actually winning some of them, as we were just cantering her and not galloping her in the mornings.

“However, we tried to give her a gallop for this race and it worked out good for her — as the final result indicated.

“She did 1:09 very easily in the morning, so she had some work under her girt. For the last two to three races she had no work, only a couple of canters in the mornings. She is a decent filly, full of courage,” DaCosta said.

The trainer then added: “Yes, you want to feel confident going into a race, but you know that there is an underlying problem and you do not know for sure how some horses are going to deal with it, and you cannot tell whether there is going to be a pain issue in the race while taking part. Fortunately, today [August 17], she was able to bear the pain and dug in about a furlong as she looked as though she was going to be interfered with but she got out of harm’s way to sneak in on the inside and came away for the victory.”