The American-bred chestnut filly Double Diva posted consecutive wins from her third start in a three-year-old and upwards imported (non-three) and non-four for local-bred horses over 1,000 metres straight at Caymanas Park, on Saturday, April 9, 2022, to lay the foundation for a four-timer for jockey Anthony Thomas. The win by Double Diva also paved the way for her trainer Jason DaCosta and owner Carlton Watson to earn triples on the day.

Double Diva made her local debut as a three-year-old on April 24, 2021, and was returning after a long break, over the five-straight course. She led from start to the finish, drawing away from the field inside the final half a furlong, going on to win by 8 1/4 lengths. The winning time posted was a smart 58.1 seconds built on split fractions of: 22.2, 44.3 seconds. Power Ranking (Oneil Mullings) finished second ahead of Will The Conquerer (Chris Mamdeen).

In the following third race, Sudden Flight in the hands of Thomas made it two from two for the stable and owner.

The debutante Madelyn’s Sunshine, a dark bay brown imported three-year-old filly, then shone brightly to close the DaCosta, Watson three-timer. For Thomas, it was his fourth as he also won on Quanna for trainer Donovan Plummer.

Madelyn’s Sunshine strode to victory in the event by 1 1/2 lengths in the field of eight. The winning time posted was 1:00.3 seconds with tracking split fractions of: 23.2, and 46.2 seconds.

Left impressed by his charges encouraging performances, DaCosta singled out Madelyn’s Sunshine for special mention in his post-race interview:

“Double Diva is a special horse but she has been plagued with issues. She seems to be going well this year and we are just keeping our fingers crossed that she will give us a good and meaningful campaign this year.

“It was a good entrance to racing by Madelyn’s Sunshine, and we are hoping that she continues her development and proves to be competitive going forward. She showed poise and determination to get off the mark on debut.

“We have been entrusted with some nice horses and with a little luck, we may just do as well as we did last year. We are here to win races. That is our major aim and should anything else comes along as an incentive that will not be refused. But, winning races to keep our owners in the best possible spirit is capital to our efforts,” DaCosta said.