Following abandonment of the last seven of nine races on last Monday’s Heroes’ Day programme there was a sense that normality was restored.

There has been swift action by the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) Board to compensate the owner of the deemed unjustly disqualified winner
Tekapunt of the now-infamous second race and suspend the race day operation stewards panel for six months and mandating refresher courses for all nine currently engaged by the JRC.

As I understand it, at the off-track betting (OTB) points of sale across the country, the punters who backed the disqualified winner were equally incensed at the decision but took no action. The point must be made that wagering on horse racing is not a 100 per cent lottery numbers game and the bettors are obligated to accept all official results, whether questionable or otherwise. The Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission should ensure these regulations are displayed at all gaming outlets.

For this race day, on which the honourees were the announcers, chief of which is outstanding race-caller Brian Rickman who conveys vital information to the customers, the opening event had a winning favourite. Ridden by title-chasing reinsman Tevin Foster,
Empress Nakelia (3-2), saddled by Robert French, scored by nearly six lengths at odds of 3-2 for the rider’s 111th success of the season from a starting tie of 110 each with chief protagonist Radesh Roman.

As an intermission to the champion jockeys contest, race two, restricted to two-year-olds and contested by a field of eight débutantes, was won by Mighty Gully, (2-1) with Abigail Able executing the riding honours for conditioner Robert Pearson. Whilst in race three, run at 1,000 metres straight, Aaron Chatrie, still active on appeal against a 25-race day ban, won the event aboard near two-length scorer Four Fiver (4-1) for trainer David Lee Sin.

At end of the 1,500-metre gallop of race four, confined to three-year-old maidens, Foster increased his lead with Phillip Lee’s 2-1 fancied The Soul Warrior (2-1) in front by three lengths, but his success for the day ended here. Roman’s first response came 35 minutes later with a two-length victory margin aboard Gary Crawford’s
Jack Daniel, the 3-5 odds on favourite.

In another interlude during the ongoing jockey’s title battle, Samantha Fletcher brought back the recent memory of her expert assistance in the final stages of the controversial
Tekapunt race. She induced a strong late finish from 12-1 bet Veliki Vickito score by a neck in the 1,200-metre sixth for owner/trainer Ricardo Brown.

On resumption of the title contest in race seven over 1,100 metres, Foster apparently made an amateurish error in a field of only five runners, which cost the connections of first-past-the-post, the Steven Todd-conditioned progressive sprinter
She’s That Girl (1-2), the major slice of the prize money.

Running from post position five, Foster failed to keep his mount on a straight course and she shifted left to intimidate and interfere with eventual official winner, US-bred
She’s A Godgift (4-1) ridden by two-kilo claimer Shavon Townsend for trainer Leroy Tomlinson. In fact, She’s That Girl was placed fourth as the interference had a chain reaction causing Prince Amaan (Raddesh Roman) to lose ground.

Roman’s response to Foster’s double was confirmed in race eight as owner/trainer Oral Hayden’s Unruly Don (3-2) dominated the early fractions and overpowered 3-5 favourite Provident by just under eight lengths over the 1,500 metres. As his 2024 statistics, 210 rides with four wins suggest, jockey Roger Hewitt needed a change of luck and it came aboard 46-1 shot, Exotic Light, declared by owner/trainer Edward Stanberry for the 1,100-metre ninth race.

The upsetting Exotic Light won by three parts of a length whilst Foster on 9-5 joint favourite Loyal Action could only secure fifth place.The expansive Raddesh Roman fan club were delighted with the day’s turn of events when he secured his triple and the lead in the title race. This, from in front, with the Patrick Hylton-conditioned, US-bred filly
Oasis Jak (8-5) over the 1,300 metres of the 10th and closing event.

The Training Feat Award is presented to trainer Edward Stanberry for the near unpredictable return to form of Exotic Light to deliver the Best Winning Gallop in a competitive event in which as many as five contenders held every chance 75 metres from the finish. Samantha Fletcher is deserving of the Jockeyship Award for the well-timed success aboard Veliki Vicki.