Five-year-old chestnut horse Atlantic Blue, under a well-executed rider from apprentice Kiaman McGregor, just held on to beat Hover Craft by a head in the Allan “Billy” Williams Memorial Trophy feature at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Atlantic Blue and McGregor did everything right from the starting gates opened in the non-Restricted Overnight Allowance event for three-year-olds and upwards run over seven furlongs.

The pair sat behind the speedy K J Express (Anthony Allen), who blazed the trail for most of the way. Atlantic Blue took his time getting closer to the leader, waiting to pounce in deep stretch.

Hitting the top of the lane, Atlantic Blue went by K J Express and began to open up on the field, and by the time the late-running Hover Craft (Phillip Parchment) got going, the race was over as Atlantic Blue held on. Dada’s Nala (Ramon Nepare) finished in third place. The race ended in a time of 1:25.1.

Atlantic Blue was winning for the fifth time from nine starts.

Two three-year-old debutants, Race Car and Green Gold Rush, made impressive starts to their careers in their respective races.

Race Car ( Race Day – McDuffie), an American-bred trained by Spencer Chung with Dane Nelson aboard, came from last position to win a Restricted Allowance event over five-and-a-half furlongs (1,100m) in a time of 1:06.0. Race Car got the better of another American-bred Whoshotthesheriff (Omar Walker).

Green Gold Rush ( Adore The Gold – Princess Lorna), a local-bred bay colt, also came with a strong run in deep stretch to beat rivals in a Maiden Condition race over six-and-a-half furlongs.

Trained by Adin Williams and ridden by Linton Stedman, Green Gold Rush defeated Diamond League (Omar Walker) and Versatile Vision (Simon Husbands) in a time of 1:19.1.

Racing continues on Saturday.

— Ruddy Allen