STARTING at odds of 4-5 Kingswood, who failed to finish his previous event and “walked in” 39 lengths in arrears (reportedly lame), demonstrated complete recovery from his New Year’s Day malaise to score in the 1500-metre opening event. Bebeto Harvey, a rider of above average competence, had Gary Crawford’s nine-year-old grey horse in front early. Headed 350 metres out the aging thoroughbred rallied gamely inside the final 100 to secure the major portion of the spoils by a neck.

Raddesh Roman secured the first of his couple of wins on the day aboard Peter-John Parsard’s
Blue Sensation (4-5) in the 1500-metre Maiden Special Weight contested by a field of five in the second of the nine races scheduled. For Roman’s second it was the winner of race eight, favourite
Uncle Nub (1-1), who was saddled by FitzGerald Richards and outsprinted 10 rivals over the straight 1000-metre course.

Bizarrely, there are conditions that allow 2023 Jamaica Derby hero and Mouttet Mile runner-up
Ability, winner of three of eight starts and a bankroll of $10.02 million, to compete at a much lower level. Ridden by three-kilo claimer,
Ability, favourite at 1-9, was hindered by the untidy start of
Geolithic (Raddesh Roman) who was subsequently disqualified for causing a chain reaction resulting in significant loss of ground for the Patrick Lynch-trained Classic winner.

Making up the ground steadily,
Ability led entering the final 200 of the 1400 metres of this the third event to score easily by nearly two lengths. This was the first of a Lynch two-timer on the card. The 1500-metre race five was yet another one of the frequent farcical events, with 2-5 favourite
Lion Charmer declared by Lynch and jockey Tevin Forster toying with six rivals in posting a victory margin of 16 lengths to close a double for Lynch’s stable.

Half an hour later, four-kilo claimer Daniel Thompson demonstrated that he should be given more opportunities. His mount,
Ruds D Indian (5-2), was the last to begin in the 1300-metre race six but made ground under patient handling to quicken and collar long-time leader
T Brady (Oshane Nugent) 150 metres out to score by just over three lengths.

Robert “Hard Ball” Halledeen, having had the first of his two successes on the card aboard
KP Choice (6-5) with a four-length triumph over the 1000 metres straight of race four, followed up in race seven. Favourite at 1-9,
Is That A Fact (USA), declared by champion Jason DaCosta , on the featured Alexander Hamilton Memorial Trophy in the expected romp, with Halledeen easing down to restrict a winning margin that could have been significantly more than just 10 lengths.

To win the 1200-metre nightcap, two-kilo claiming jockey Shavon Townsend did an admirable job in guiding 5-2 bet
King Air to deny his nearest rival by a length. Challenged on both sides of his flanks from 300 metres out, Townsend’s balance and use of his whip ensured trainer Howard Bogues’ first trip to the winners’ enclosure.

The Training Feat Award is presented to Gary Crawford for the performance of
Kingswood in delivering the Best Winning Gallop. This success was due in no small measure to the skill set of Bebeto Harvey for his first Jockeyship Award of the season.