In form Whitehall sweeps features at Century in style
EDMONTON, Canada (CMC) — Antonio Whitehall’s phenomenal form this season showed no sign of waning as he swept both stakes races on Friday’s eight-race at Century Mile here.
The Barbadian jockey combined with 5-1 choice Music At Work to win the CAN$40,000 Sonoma Handicap in race two, before returning with hot favourite She Likes To Party to convincingly win the CAN$40,000 Princess Margaret Stakes in race four.
Whitehall, the runaway leader at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, has also made his presence felt at Century with 17 wins in 83 rides for the season.
Fellow Barbadian Rico Walcott, who leads the charts with 32 wins from 93 starts, captured a single win on the day’s card when he carried 6-5 bet Calculating to a one length win over the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares in a six-furlong sprint in race one.
The day belonged to Whitehall, however.
After finishing out of the places in race one with 15-8 chance Sophia Said What, Whitehall rebounded in style when he guided bay filly Music At Work to a handsome 3½-length win over the three-year-old fillies, to score in a time of one minute, 27.02 seconds.
Going seven furlongs, Whitehall tracked early pacesetter Someone Else before putting that rival away at the half-mile marker and opening up a two-length lead in the stretch.
Favourite Pearl of Knowledge, with Walcott aboard, came late, but Music at Work was never really challenged as Whitehall kept her focused.
His second success came in another seven-furlong trip, this time pairing with bay filly She Likes to Party to crush the two-year-old fillies by 14½-lengths in a time of 1:12.58.
Whitehall rushed She Likes to Party to the front, ‘out-hustling’ Walcott’s Bells and Whistles to post fractions of 22:56 seconds for the quarter and 46:68 for the half, to be six lengths clear in the stretch.
She continued to draw off in the final furlongs, leaving the field in her wake to hit the wire without a challenger