Lydia Anglin accomplished a remarkable feat of being a female trainer by having her charges, Anika Belle and Edina Marsh, finish first and second in the seventh race on Sunday, January 28, 2024.

The race was a maiden condition event for native-bred five-year-olds and upward over four furlongs (800,000m).
Anika Belle, ridden by Andre Powell, defeated Edina Marsh (Tevin Foster) by a length and a quarter in a time of 49.0 seconds for the distance.

Although she expected her horses to sweep the top two spots, Anglin said the experience was very meaningful to her because she aspires to be like Eileen Cliggott, Jamaica’s most successful trainer with 976 wins.

“I feel elated. To be honest, I expected my horses to end like this.

“The team worked tirelessly to achieve this, and I am grateful,” Anglin told the Jamaica Observer’s The Supreme Racing Guide.

“This [one-two finish] is really meaningful to me, and I don’t believe any other female trainer has ever run one-two in a race; therefore, I am the first to do so. And, as I have always stated, I want to continue the trend of Miss Eileen Cliggott, and so I will work tirelessly to do so. I’m working on it,” Anglin added, her eyes welling up with delight.

Edina Marsh matched strides with Mardele (Samantha Fletcher) and Esuse Me Goodbye (Roderick DaCosta) at the start of the five-horse race, while Anike Belle broke slowly and ran behind runners. As the runners sorted themselves out as they approached the dummy rails,
Anika Belle got rolling and came up to challenge her stablemate for the lead, and both horses moved clear of the other runners in their own battle. In the end, Anika Belle proved to be the stronger of the two and emerged victorious. Edina Marsh finished 6 ½ lengths ahead of
Sir Ganga Jamuna (Romario Spencer) who came in third.

“I told both riders to just get a good break and bring the horses home, and both riders did well, and I am happy,” Anglin said.

“I am going to cool her [Anika Belle] now. She ran for three seconds, and now she came and won, so what more can I ask of her? So I am going to give her a little rest, see what happens, and take it from there with the team. Only one person can do it; it takes teamwork.

“I have two grooms, and we are all a team, as well as my uncle, trainer Joseph Thomas, and my trainer, Donovan Plummer. It is teamwork, as I am still in the learning process. I have good people around pushing me, and I am trying. Even though I am female, the gentlemen here are with me all the time. We are one, and I am grateful for the support,” she ended.

Anglin is the only female among 39 students of the game who graduated from the 2023 Jamaica Racing Commission’s (JRC) Trainers Training Program. The graduation ceremony was held at Caymanas Park Golf Club in St Catherine on Friday, May 12.

Anglin, who now has two wins to her name, earned her first win when
Three Card Guy, ridden by Shamaree Muir, won the seventh race on Sunday, September 24, 2023.