VAMPIRE REJECTION GOES ONE BETTER

After finishing second by half a length to Time For A Kola over 7 furlongs (1,400m) on February 7, Vampire Rejection retuned half-furlong (100m) longer at 7 ½ furlongs (1,500m) and made one move to easily win the native-bred five-year-old and upwards Restricted Allowance V (non-winners of two) event.

Jockey Dane Nelson pushed the Donovan Plummer-conditioned Vampire Rejection to the lead at the off, as the dark bay horse battled with Saint Michael (Paul Francis) and Sea Cruise (Trevor Simpson) down the backstretch before drawing off at the half-mile (800m).

In deep stretch, Vampire Rejection coasted home clear, winning easily by 6 lengths ahead of Saint Michael and Doctor Grey (Tevin Foster) in that order.

Owned by Faulyn Messam, Vampire Rejection ( Soul Warrior – Rum Ridge) won in a time of 1:36.4. The win was Plummer’s first win for the season.

Baby Star comes good down

Finishing third in her first race of the season on January 23, the Johnny Wilmot-trained Baby Star ( Nuclear Wayne – Westqueenstreet) returned in tip-top condition to score in a native-bred five-year-old and upwards Restricted Allowance 1V (non-winners of three) at 5 furlongs (1,000m) straight.

Running from the number 10 post, Baby Star got a good break under jockey Anthony Thomas, and raced just behind Custer (Tevin Foster) for the first half of the race before challenging for the lead coming across the dummy rails.

With the momentum going her way, Baby Star drew off inside in the final stages of the race to win by 2 lengths. Custer held on for second ahead of City Counsel, the mount of Christopher Mamdeen. The final time for the race was 1:00.0 with splits of 22.3 x 45.4.

CONSISTENCY PAYS OFF FOR PAPITO

Consistency and patience continue to pay off for the connections of Papito as the four-year-old bay colt picked up his second win from six starts after easily taking division one of a four-year-old and upwards Restricted Allowance V event over 5 ½ furlongs (1,100m).

Trained by Gary Subratie and ridden by Dane Nelson, the lightly raced Papito was in an early duel with Double Jeopardy (Dane Dawkins) and Sensational Satin (Javaniel Patterson) going into the half-mile turn.

Papito hugged the inside rails, cut the turn, and found a clear run in deep stretch to be in control of the race. With a couple of cracks of the whip and strong urgings from Nelson, Papito proved too strong for rivals and drew off to win by 1 ¾ lengths in a time of 1:07.4.

Versatile Vision, under apprentice Youville Pinnock, came from far behind to get second place in her first run since her eighth place in last year’s 1000 Guineas. My Time Now, the mount of Matthew Bennett, also came from far behind to earn third.

 COPPERTONE UPSETS AT 24-1 WITH TONGUE TIE ON, BLINKERS OFF

Running with the blinkers off and the tongue tie on, the Randolph Scott-conditioned Coppertone created a huge upset at 24-1 when he made one move in division two of a four-year-old and upwards Restricted Allowance V over 5 ½ furlongs.

With Christopher Mamdeen in the saddle, Coppertone jumped right to the front when the gates opened, but was immediately tested by Stormy Silana (Dane Nelson) going into the half-mile turn.

Turning for home, Coppertone accelerated and powered off to win by 1 ½ lengths in a time of 1:08.0. K D Flyer (Aaron Chatrie) was second and Elitist (Anthony Thomas) third.

SIX HORSES CLAIMED

Six horses were claimed on the nine-race programme.

Fernando Geddes claimed Musketoon for owner Ainsley McKoy for $300,000 from Dennis Pryce and Tyrone Prince claimed Kiah for owner Joseph Martin for $350,000 from Michael Campbell in the third race.

In the fourth race, Byron Davis claimed Sir Arjun Babu for owner Glendon Drummond from Gary Subratie, Steven Todd claimed Flowers Thirty for owner Keisha Thomas from Ryan Darby, Ryan Williams claimed Unbreakable for owner Blue Knights Stables from Donovan Russell and Dennis Pryce claimed Burlin for owner Vernaldo Scott from Errol Burke. All horses in the fourth event went for a tag of $250,000 each.