Baltusrol a winner

Baltusrol easily obliged as the 3/5 favourite to win the $720,000 three-year-old and upward claiming ($550,000-$500,000) event over 5 ½ furlongs (1,100m).

Baltusrol wasn’t sharp out of the starting gates as the Tyrone Prince charge under Linton Steadman and raced in fifth position approaching the half-mile (800m) turn as Stanislaus (Dane Nelson) carried the field into the turn ahead of Gimmipalinka (Trevor Simpson) and Storm Princess (Anthony Thomas).

Baltusrol ( Blue Pepsi Lodge – Star Flyer) got going in deep stretch and immediately joined Stanislaus at the furlong pole before edging away to win comfortably by 1 ¾ lengths in a time of 1:08.3. Stanislaus was second and Storm Princess third. Baltusrol was winning his fifth race from 26 career starts.

Custer makes it two wins in a row

Custer trained by Alford Brown completed back-to-back wins when he won a Restricted Allowance 111/1V event over 5 ½ furlongs.

With Shane Ellis in the saddle, Custer ( Blue Pepsi Lodge – Patty Girl) raced just behind Sir Kel (Jerome Innis) with Super Amia (Jordan Barrett) behind in third. Custer drew closer to the leader approaching the distance before pulling away in deep stretch, winning by 2 lengths.

Unknown Soldier (Aaron Chatrie) came running on in the final stage of the race for second money with Uncle Vernon (Dane Dawkins) getting third. The final time for the event was 1:07.3.

Miss Cookie wins after long layoff

Having not raced since September 28 in 2019, Miss Cookie , trained by Joseph Tomas and ridden by apprentice Nicholas Hibbert, made a winning return to competitive racing when easily putting away rivals going 5 furlongs straight in a maiden condition contest.

Miss Cookie, racing with the visor on and the tongue tie off shot to the lead from the number five draw. Miss Cookie stayed with the field for the first half of the race before drawing away coming across the dummy rails to win by 3 ½ lengths.

Lyceum (Tevin Foster) came through for second place with Little Red (Osive Donegal) earning third. The final time was 1:03.0.

Old-timer Hover Craft notches 19 career wins

Eleven -year-old bay gelding Hover Craft continued to show that he still has more to offer after winning for the 19th time in his career. His latest win came in a three-year-old and upwards claimer ($1,000,000 – $800,000) over 9 furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m).

Hover Craft, trained by Wayne DaCosta and ridden by Anthony Thomas, was unusually early when the gates opened as he raced in third place behind Top Shelf (Omar Walker) and Tricky One (Dane Nelson) going around the clubhouse turn then on the backstretch.

Hover Craft then surged to the front from 3 ½ furlongs (700m) out and cruised home to win by 17 lengths in a time of 1:58.4.

Drone Strike (Tevin Foster) finished second and Chinamax (Dick Cardenas) third.

Eight horses claimed

Eight horses were claimed on the nine-race programme.

Gary Griffiths claimed A Seh Soup for owner Noril Atkins from Henry Harrison Jr, Kingsley Davis claimed Stanislaus for owner Michael McIntosh from Richard Todd and Henry Harrison Jr claimed winner Baltusrol for owner Kalmin McCleod from Tyrone Prince from the first race. All horses in the event were claimed for $550,000 each.

In the sixth race, Richard Todd claimed Danceallnight for owner Bronx Connection from Phillip Lee, Ryan Darby claimed Inferno Flames for owner Rohan Daley from Andrew McDonald, Michael Francis claimed winner Mamacita for owner Deleta Brewster from Ryan Darby and Lawrence Freemantle claimed Sweet Destiny for owner Ajax Bjorn from Ian Alexander. All horses in the sixth race were claimed at a tag of $250,000 each.

Ryan Darby claimed Tricky One for owner James Forbes and Nadine Russell-Forbes for $1 million from Anthony Nunes from the seventh race.

­— Compiled by Ruddy Allen