MANY of the 39 graduates of the recently concluded 2023 Jamaica Racing Commission Trainers’ Course continue to have encouraging beginnings to their careers. The opening event underscores this, with Barrington Bernard saddling the first two to finish in the opening 1,400-metre event, and two others enjoying similar status.

Anngellos (47-1), ridden by Roger Hewitt (16), arrived in the final strides to deny dominant, front-running, 6-1 bet and stablemate Hecandance (Jawara Steadman). This gave the friend of Bernard’s the opportunity to give him a sparkling wine-doused welcome to the winners’ enclosure for the first time. So well presented, Anngellos took closer orders at 400 metres out and responded well to the hard-ridden persuasion of Hewitt to score by a head.

In the second event 2-5 bet Wilson, guided by Javaniel Patterson (16) and saddled by Oral Hayden, joined the high number of daily wide-margin winners with an eight-length superiority over the 1,400-metre gallop. Half-hour later, race three served up an 11-length runaway for Ryan Darby’s Sunshine Cat (4-1) to give veteran Oneill Mullings his sixth winning mount of 2023.

Race four, run at 1,000 metres straight, went to Absolute Blue (2-1), declared by owner-breeder-trainer Carl Anderson to give leading reinsman Reyan Lewis (47) the first of two successes on the 10-race programme. For its second career win the five-year-old bay horse was never off the bridle for too long and coasted in over five lengths ahead of the nearest rival.

Over the straight course again the same could be posited for race five’s best sprinter Jaguar (7-5), who was better than seven lengths superior to his field. Declared by Ricardo Mathie for the first success of his training career, the speedy four-year-old colt gave champion Dane Dawkins (35) the first of a riding triple on the day. Interestingly, race six closed a father and son double, with dad Rowan Mathie saddling maiden Lady Abhimala (Paul Francis/11) to best the 1,200-metre gallop by just under two lengths at odds of 5-1.

In race seven it was the turn of yet another recent licensee, in the form of Courtney Williams who saddled Zion (4-5), to score in the 1,400-metre contest. Ridden by Phillip Parchment (09), Zion was always in control of the pace and proved to be just over four lengths the best. Whilst in race eight, run over 1800 metres for the Valbert Marlowe Memorial Trophy, to close his riding double Reyan Lewis was back in the winners’ enclosure, this time aboard the Jason DaCosta-conditioned Sunset Silhoutte (7-2).

Dawkins rode the second of his three successes with the Gary Subratie-trained and improving four-year-old colt Big Guy In TheSky (2-1), scoring by four lengths in the day’s ninth event run at 1,200 metres. The champion jockey’s third was six-length scorer Perfect Brew (1-1), saddled by Richard Azan in the 1600-metre nightcap for the Alsafra Trophy,

The Training Feat Award is presented to Barrington Bernard for presenting the first two finishers in the opening event with only a total seven horses declared so far in his fledging career. The Best Winning Gallop was executed by Anngellos under the athletic assistance of Roger Hewitt who earned for himself the day’s Jockeyship Award.