Roy Rogers, the Dennis Lee-conditioned five-year-old grey gelding, confirmed his status as a horse of considerable worth after holding off rivals to win the $1.3-million Lloyd Lindberg “Lindy” Delapenha Memorial Trophy feature at Caymanas Park yesterday.

Sent off as a 2-1 betting option, Roy Rogers, ridden by apprentice Nicholas Hibbert, looked very much comfortable coming into the lane, but had to fight off the challenges of both Big Bang on his outside and Coco Chanel against the inside rails for the win.

The victory was well-deserved by Roy Rogers as the Distorted – Soca Party offspring showed true grit and determination to take the three-year-old and upward Non-Restricted Overnight Allowance event over one mile (1,600m) by half length in a time of 1:40.3 minutes.

Always prominent at the start of the race, Roy Rogers settled in second position behind Harry’s Train (Ricardo Duhaney) leaving the intersection at the seven furlong (1,400m) pole.

Roy Rogers was hustled up to take a slim lead at the six-furlong (1,200m) marker, but was once again headed by Harry’s Train going into the half-mile (800m) turn.

Turning for home, Roy Rogers kicked clear from rivals and opened up in deep stretch, but the grey gelding, although shortening a bit inside the final furlong of the race, had done more than enough to hold on to the win ahead of Big Bang (Tevin Foster) and Coco Chanel (Dane Dawkins) in the end.

“I have known ‘Lindy’ from a very long time in racing, and so I am very happy to win his memorial trophy,” trainer Lee said after the race.

Meanwhile, Curlin’s Affair, the first foal of 2016 1000 Guineas winner Nuclear Affair to race, made a winning start to his career after landing a native-bred three-year-old maiden condition race over six furlongs.

Although not as impressive in victory as his exercise gallops in the mornings suggested, Curlin’s Affair, with Robert Halledeen in the saddle, did enough to win the event by a length and a quarter after opening up on the field coming into the lane.

T Brady (Christopher Mamdeen) came home in second place ahead of Sir John (Anthony Thomas) in third place. The winning time was 1:15.4 minutes.

Curlin’s Affair, bred and owned by Michael Bernard from stallion Perfect Curlin, was the second winner on the eight-race programme for two-time champion trainer Anthony Nunes. Versatile Vision (Dane Nelson) won the opening event for Nunes.

Racing continues next weekend with the running of the Hotline Stakes for fillies on Saturday and the Sir Howard Stakes for colts and geldings on Sunday. Both races will run over six furlongs.