After finishing second to Another Bullet in the LASCO Food Drink Caribbean Sprint Championship last Saturday, five-year-old chestnut horse Mr Universe should now be cherry ripe to lead home rivals in the $1-million Vassell “Jolly Man” Najair Memorial Trophy feature at Caymanas Park today.

Mr Universe led the six-furlong (1,200m) Caribbean Sprint field into the lane before giving way at the furlong (200m) pole to lose by two lengths in a time of 1:12.2 minutes. Mr Universe lost no merit in this defeat.

Jockey Omar Walker rode a controlled and well-judged race, but in the end was beaten by a better horse on the day. Mr Universe, as is usually the case, was tough and his never-say-die attitude carried him through. It was his second race for the season, having finished second behind stable companion Run Thatcher Run in his first outing over 5 ½ furlongs (1,100m) on September 7 after being out of competitive racing for nine months.

Truth to be told, Mr Universe, who steps down to compete in this non-restricted Overnight Allowance company, is much better than this level and can dismantle this field at any given time. With those two runs under his girth, Mr Universe is well-primed and should make every post a winning one here.

The “Jolly Man” Memorial Trophy feature, a three-year-olds and upward race going six furlongs, is positioned as the 11th event on the 12-race card, with a post time of 4:40 pm. First race has a post time of 11:00 am.

The horse that should give Mr Universe most to do here is three-year-old dark bay American-bred colt Legality, who returns from a four-month break, well-trained for this race.

Legality has racked up three wins from six starts this season with two second-place finishes. Legality wins have come over seven furlongs (1,400m) twice and once going 7 1/2 furlongs (1,500m). He has raced over today’s distance once and was beaten into fourth place by 2 1/4 lengths behind Zephyr, Lottery Ticket and Capturemyship in his last effort before going on break on June 1.

However, if he is to beat Mr Universe here, he has to improve a lot from that effort despite burning up the exercise track in the morning.

Other runners who could do well in this race and fight for minor places are Lady Blue, Sir JhunJhun Wala, Mamdam Secretary, My Sister and Corazon.

ONES TO WATCH:

Race 1) Bullet Raj/Camouflage/Lady V

Race 2) Adonis/Dee Danger/Axle Rod

Race 3) Uncle Wal/Thundereble/Twilight Eruption

Race 4) Prince Dominick/Kiah/Super Stunner

Race 5) American Invader/Alhamdulillah/Universal Boss

Race 6) Big Black Nation/Photogenic/Jamaican Citizen

Race 7) Dezzy The Genius/Blood Song/Free Marie

Race 8) Rojorn di Pilot/Baltusrol/Prince Charles

Race 9) Awesome Glitter/Adore Me/Private Quest

Race 10) Treasure Train/Pure Heart/Nala’s Bushman

Race 11) Mr Universe/Legality/Lady Blue

Race 12) Latapy/Blood Fire/Purple Wayne