FORMER champion trainer Anthony “Baba” Nunes has admitted that it is going to be very difficult for anyone to dethrone reigning champion Jason DaCosta this year but said his barn will be doing its very best to reclaim the title.

Nunes, who is a three-time champion trainer, was dethroned of his title by a younger DaCosta last year. DaCosta, who is the son of the late 18-time champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, was securing his first trainer’s championship, having commenced training in Jamaica in March 2021 following the death of his father that year.

Nunes finished third in last year’s championship with stakes earnings of $55,821,775 as Jason amassed stakes earnings of $74,002,650 to comfortably win the title. Gary Subratie was second with $58,528,280. Patrick Lynch $35,048,970 and Ian Parsard $31,751,830 were fourth and fifth, respectively.

“It is going to be tough for anybody to beat Jason in the next year to five years,” said Nunes. “But Gary Subratie has done a wonderful job, Ian Persard is a very good trainer with high-quality horses, and Patrick Lynch is also a good trainer. Phillip Feanny, who is a 14-time champion trainer, I think his barn really started doing really well in the last half of last year, and once he has the horses then his horse racing acumen is never to be questioned,” he said.

Nunes shared that his stable is now in the middle of a rebuilding phase. He, therefore, does not have any grade one horses due to the fact that former Horse of the Year Further and Beyond, who was his top grade one horse for the past three years, has now been sold to another trainer at Caymanas Park. However, he noted that he will be still trying his best to upstage DaCosta this year.

“I have always wanted to win the championship and so I will be trying every year — and this year is no different.

“I mean it is going to be tough again but I think we are in the middle of rebuilding as well because our stable is made up of a lot of two-year-olds and three-year-olds,” he said.

“We really don’t have any grade one horses but hopefully we can change that as the year progresses. But right now starting, we don’t have any grade one horses but, as I said, it’s rebuilding but it doesn’t mean that we are not trying to win,” Nunes added.

Meanwhile, DaCosta said he will be doing all that he can to retain his trainers’ title this year.

“There is always pressure on you but you just have to keep focused and just continue doing what you are doing and just hope for the best,” he noted.

“The objective is to try and go out there and do what we always do and try and prepare the horses and try and win races — and if the championship comes, it comes.

“The objective is also to just go out there and win races, and if we are in the position to win then we will definitely give it our all,” he added.