IN the opening 1200-metre event, trainer Fitznahum Richards managed to open his ‘win account’ in what has been for his small stable, a season of limited activity to date when compared to previous racing years. Maiden colt JJthestriker was the outfit’s 20th start of the season, this being the fourth racecourse appearance for the three-year-old, who ran determinedly from in front under Chalrick Budhai to reward his backers’ odds of 4/1.

Trained by Ryan Derby, hard-knocking five-year-old mare Top Shelf (Tevin Foster), having her fifteenth race this year, was fefinitely in mood for a fight, much to the regret of Beach Boy (Shane Ellis) who was forced in the latter stages to concede by a head after a stirring battle for supremacy over the 1200-metre distance of the day’s second event. Half an hour later, the third event over the 800-metre course went to 2/1 chance It’s A Rap (Roger Hewitt) to bolster the strike rate of trainer Gregory Forsyth to 13 wins from 44 starts.

Five-year-old gelding Riddim Up, who was disqualified from first place in an event in November 2019 when trained by the late Wayne DaCosta, needed another 29 races to release his maiden certificate. Prepared by Steven Todd, Riddim Up was always clear in the 1000-metre-straight fourth event and won by a conservative six lengths for leading reinsman Anthony Thomas’s first of a double on the day.

Conditioner Michael Marlowe had his first of two trips to the winners’ enclosure when well-fancied Gambler (Dane Nelson) overwhelmed eleven rivals to score by seven lengths in the 1300-metre fifth-race gallop. The 1000-metre-straight sixth event went to the Gary Griffiths-schooled Turnonthelight, confirming Thomas’s second winning mount on the card and his 58th of the season.

Bred, owned and trained by Carl Anderson and ridden by Samantha Fletcher, five-year-old grey mare Special Counsel delivered a runaway from in front in the 1100-metre seventh event, being over eight lengths clear of her nearest non-existent challengers at the finish. For trainer Marlowe’s second win, Nala’s Bushman (Shane Ellis) predictably outstayed nine rivals by three lengths in the 1820-metre eighth event at odds of 4/5.

The ninth event went narrowly to It’s A Boy (Phillip Parchment), with the three-year-old colt releasing his maiden certificate with a victory margin of a nose over Bridal Blush (Dick Cardenas), allowing trainer Jason DaCosta to open a double in the 1200-metre ninth. Fourth in the 2000 Guineas, nine lengths adrift of hero Miniature Man, Billy Whizz (Dick Cardenas) confirmed DaCosta’s double in scoring by over five lengths in the 1200-metre Knutsford Park Cup feature staged as the nightcap.

Currently there are 12 second-generation trainers practising with the over 100 other licensees. For those who may not be aware, this column has been tracking the remarkable 2021 success rate of this cohort which consists of Anthony Nunes, Gary Subratie, Jason Dacosta, Ian Parsard, Steven Todd, Ryan Darby, Christopher Pearson, Robert Pearson, Michael Marlowe, Errol Waugh, Wayne Parchment, Lorne Kirlew and Barrington Dawes. With Marlowe and DaCosta scoring twice and Darby once on this card, the statistic is now an incredible 194 wins combined from the 331 races offered in 2021 to date.

The Training Feat Award is presented to Michael Marlowe for the presentation of Gambler, who was defeated in similar company toting 46 kilos but returned with 54 kilos and won by seven lengths, the filly delivering the Best Winning Gallop in so doing. Phillip Parchment gets the Jockeyship Award for the requisite athletic ability, judgement of pace and balance exhibited on It’s A Boy, who was one of the least experienced in the 12-strong field of maidens.