Despite not being as dominant as he once was, six-year-old chestnut horse Further And Beyond produced further evidence that he can still compete with the top ‘boys’ following his emphatic win in the Seeking My Dream Trophy on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

Further And Beyond, trained by Donovan Hutchinson and ridden by Raddesh Roman, got up in the nick of time to beat Mahogany by three parts of a length in the Open Allowance contest for three-year-olds and upward going 7½ furlongs. The former Horse of the Year clocked 1:33.2 (23.0 x 45.4 x 1:11.4) for his second win of the season from five starts.

Following Further And Beyond’s preparation coming into the race, Hutchinson said that he was confident that his charge would get the job done given the nature of the race.

“This horse is easy to train. I gave him some simple leg work and a half-mile, then I took him to the stables for therapy, and the rest is history,” Hutchinson told the Jamaica Observer’s Supreme Racing Guide.

“I told the jockey that the last time Rhythm Buzz ran him down, he sprinted nine furlongs and yards in an attempt to make it all. This time, take a break and sit. When you leave the half-mile, simply take your time and come down; you’ll catch them eventually.

“They will fight on the front line, Mamma Mia and Mahogany went at it and so all we have to do is to part the fight. The jockey is a good jockey because he listens and obeys instructions,” Hutchinson added.

Running with the visor off, Further And Beyond raced way behind the leaders, Mamma Mia (Josue Osorio) and Mahogany (Reyan Lewis).

Both Mamma Mia and Mahogany then began to separate themselves from the rest of the field in what at the time was a two-horse race leaving the five-furlong marker.

With four furlongs to go, Further And Beyond was fifth in the six-horse field and seemingly going nowhere, but he quickly surrounded horses approaching the top of the lane under an aggressive Roman and advanced to third place.

Further And Beyond responded to Roman’s rallying call with a strong stretch run to beat catch Mahogany at the wire. Mamma Mia did well to hold onto third place, some four lengths adrift of the top two.

“The trainer and I sat down and discussed some things about this horse. I told the trainer for this race that he must take the visor off the horse because we knew that there was going to be a lot of speed in the race.

“You have Mamma Mia and Mahogany in the race, and so they will be setting the pace, and our plan was just to break the fight between them. So, we will just sit off the pace and come at them in the final stages of the race, and that worked out for us. I was pleased with the performance,” Roman said.