Rani Bangala comes of age
Rani Bangala, trained by Robert Pearson, made it four wins in a row with an outstanding performance in the Errol “Big Sub” Subratie Memorial Trophy feature on Sunday, October 15, 2023.
The four-year-old bay filly, who was competing for the first time at the Overnight Allowance level, led from start to finish, winning the three-year-old-and-upwards contest over one mile (1,600m) by a dominant 16 lengths. Rani Bangala won in a time of 1:38.3 (24.2 x 47.3 x 1:12.1).
Pearson stated that while his charge’s success at odds of 12 did not surprise him, Rani Bangala‘s method of triumph did.
“Rani Bangala has been improving over all the races she has won, and she continued to improve on the exercise track, so I was expecting a very good effort from her. She was up against Mojito, and he is a really big horse, but she ran very big today, and I was pleasantly surprised with her. I was pleasantly surprised because we never expected her to make one bell,” Pearson told the Jamaica Observer‘s The Supreme Racing Guide.
“She has been a revelation this season, and I think she is one of the most improved horses running right now. I was very worried at the start because she has never run like this by going in front and trying to make all. But when I saw her leave the three furlong marker, I knew it was over.
“I was most impressed with the manner of victory and we will take our chances in the bigger races to the backend of the year,” Pearson added.
As the runners passed the intersection at the seven-furlong (1,400m) pole, Rani Bangala was well-relaxed on the lead, ahead of Big Jule (Robert Halledeen), Excessive Force (Shane Richardson), and Babylike (Oneil Mullings).
In the subsequent half-mile, jockey Raddesh Roman asked Rani Bangala to pick up the pace, and she did, just before Mojito broke through the pursuing pack to go in chase of the leader.
Rani Bangala turned for home, shifted gears, engaged the afterburners, leaving the field struggling in the final stretch.
Sunset Silhoutte (Reyan Lewis) ran on for second place ahead of Mojito in the third spot.
