Emperorofthecat was produced at the furlong pole by jockey Shane Ellis after allowing the early speed of Madelyn’s Sunshine and Yellowstone to simmer, before going on to register his third career win in a three-year-old and upwards (non-winners of three) at 5 1/2 furlongs (1,100 metres) at Caymanas Park, on Saturday, July 9, 2022.

Showing the way home after being out sped in the earlies, the bay gelded son of Emperor Hall out of Laws of the Cat, owned and trained by Carl Anderson, once again demonstrated glowing signs of him developing into a more than useful sprinter putting aside his early promise of going long with a tidy 5 1/2 lengths victory scored with his gifted late speed in a time of 1:08 seconds flat built on split fractions of 23.0 x 47.0.

Yellowstone, showing a lot of pluck under jockey Dick Cardenas, held the 1/5 favourite Madelyn’s Sunshine (Anthony Thomas) at bay to finish in second place. This came after the “Canterman” Ellis produced Emperorofthecat between runners inside the final furlong skittering along to exact a comfortable third win from his seven starts in the small field of seven runners. Power Ranking ridden by Dane Dawkins came on to complete the frame.

Assistant trainer Alphonso Harris representing trainer Anderson was encouraged by the performance of Emperorofthecats, especially after racing just seven ago in the 10-furlong Jamaica St Leger.

“It is a really good feeling to be associated and being involved in training a horse of the calibre Emperorofthecat. As even the big horse (Madelyn’s Sunshine) that they have in this race, I was 100 per cent confident of winning going into this race. This event was like a cup race and the ‘Emperor‘ is an ‘A’ class sprinter. I am not hiding the fact.

“If Mahogany was in this race, he would have had the same problem of beating this horse. Remember when we last spoke I told you that this horse (‘Emperor‘) is one for the Classics. It was not for the Guineas or Derby as such, he is a Classic horse just like Mahogany in the field of sprinting. He is just three and may develop to go further as he is a horse of exceptional quality and in time he could prove me right by remaining sound with good health,” Harris said.

— Hurbun Williams