HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida (CMC) — Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr kept up his relentless form with a double at Gulfstream Park here Friday, to further widen his lead in the championship.

He watched as jockey Edgard Zayas took favourite Batucada to victory in race five over a mile, and return to carry 3-1 chance House of Melody to victory in race nine over a mile and sixteenth, to seal his success on the nine-race card in south Florida.

Joseph, who notched a triple on Thursday’s eight-race programme, tops the table with 30 wins to be 14 clear of nearest challenger Jose Francisco D’Angelo.

The 26-year-old tasted success for the first time when Batucada made all the running to crush the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by 8¼ lengths.

Zayas put the four-year-old filly through fractions of 24.77 seconds for the quarter and 47.74 for the half, with 28-1 longshot Slender Slipper in pursuit.
Batucada, however, drew off steadily to be in total command in the stretch and reached the wire without a serious challenger.

Joseph’s second win came in the day’s finale when Zayas produced another gate-to-wire effort to steer three-year-old bay filly House of Melody to a half-length win over the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares.

Zayas broke House of Melody well from the outside post to produce splits of 23.69 and 47.88, with 62-1 longshot Queen Aiko stalking early on.

In the run to the finish, favourite Bellwether closed quickly to put the leader under pressure but House of Melody held well.