Trainer Patrick Lynch is of the view that bypassing the Jamaica St Leger and going for an experienced rider in Allen Maragh paid dividends for his charge Ability in the 103rd running of the $7.5-million Jamaica Derby Classic on Monday, August 7, 2023.

After Ability finished third in the 2000 Guineas by more than 14 lengths behind Mojito and Money Miser on June 4, Lynch stated that his three-year-old bay colt showed no signs of getting a distance of ground and that he needed to take his time preparing his charge for the Jamaica Derby, which was his main goal.

“I don’t think that he had enough stamina and so I had to just skip the Jamaica St Leger and prepare him a little bit harder. By skipping the Jamaica St Leger, it gave us more time to prepare him,” Lynch told the Jamaica Observer‘s The Supreme Racing Guide.

“When he [Ability] finished his run in the 2000 Guineas and when I looked at it, it seems that he wasn’t staying the trip but I knew that I didn’t put any pressure on him going into the race. I skipped the St Leger and trained him properly for the Jamaica Derby and he got it,” Lynch added.

So said, so done, as Ability, in one of his best performances to date, defied all expectations and easily won the 12-furlong (2,400m) event. Ability made the critical move when he surrounded long-time leader Mojito approaching the distance, and the writing was already on the wall as to how far the bay colt would win. Ability won the Futurity event for native-bred three-year-olds by three and a half lengths in a time of 2:42.3 (24.0 x 48.1 x 1:16.0 x 1:42.3 x 2:10.1).

“It is a great feeling. This showed that success only comes with hard work as we have been putting in the hard work and I feel good about it. It wasn’t a super performance but it was good as I was winning my third Derby Race,” said Lynch, who saddled The Bomber in 2007 and Drone Strike in 2018.

Lynch stated that Maragh also played an important part in Ability‘s success in the season’s final Classic Race.

“Allen Maragh is a brilliant jockey. He’s been around for a long time, and I chose him for his experience and race knowledge, and he rode a perfect race,” Lynch contended.