In the opening six-furlong event, restricted to three-year-old maiden fillies, frontrunner and first past the post Riley J (8-1) ridden by Jerome Innis was disqualified for getting into the path of eventual awardee of the win Wayne’sCherrylinks (9-5).

This incident resulted in a chain reaction leaving Hansa (3-2) without running room and the loss of significant ground.

Too often, the jockeys fail to make the basic and obvious decisions in the early stages of the races. On this occasion Innis’ neglect to keep his mount on a true line was a matter of not exercising due care for the safety of his fellow riders.

Each post position effectively assigns an undrawn or imaginary lane for each starter to reduce the possibility of any incident immediately after the start.

In the first few strides, if a jockey is deemed to be in full control of his or her mount, any departure from a straight course to cause interference leaves the Operation Stewards with no other option but to change the order of the finish appropriately.

Trained by Barrington Bernard, Wayne’sCherrylinks was the first leg of a riding double for 2022 champion Dane Dawkins. Following race five, Dawkins was back in the winners’ enclosure aboard Phillip Lee’s frontrunning sprinter Abreathoffreshair (7-1) who never looked likely to caught over the five and a half furlongs to secure victory by two lengths.

In race two, run at seven furlongs, 1-9 bet Propellant (USA), trained by Gary Subratie, was guided by former two-time champion Shane Ellis to a four-length victory margin over five rivals to open a riding double.

Ellis’s dual success was confirmed in race six as Sonny T And Chippy (9-5), declared by Adrian Prince scored by seven lengths and a quarter over the seven furlongs of the event.

In race three, contested by a field of six, Let Him Fly (4-5), saddled by Lennis Shim won by just over five lengths to give recent Jamaica Racing Commission Riding School (JRCRS) graduate Shaheem Gordon his first winner.

Demar Williams, another newly-minted JRCRS graduate, gave a competent display in partnering maiden Donovan Hutchinson’s maiden four-year-old colt Kellan (5-2) to victory over the six and a half furlongs of race four.

For race seven Richie Shakes became the third JRCRS graduate to have success on the card. Benson (5-1), a five-year-old bay horse and progeny of sprint stallion Here Comes Ben, was posted in superb condition by trainer Fitznahum Williams.

Shakes had the winner in front all the way to win the six-furlong gallop by a length and a half ahead of the nearest of nine rivals. This was the featured George Hosang Trophy and staged as race seven of the nine on the programme.

Lady Abhimala (8-5) swerved left at the start of race eight and broadsided chief rival and 1-1 favourite
Flybluejet (USA) drawn alongside at seven and six respectively. This was a case where following an objection and Steward’s Inquiry, Samantha Fletcher aboard Lady Abhimala could not have been reasonably deemed to be in full control when the filly leapt into her first stride.

Trained by Rohan Mathie, Lady Abhimala recovered quickly, led all the way to better chief rival Flybluejet (USA) by two lengths over the maximum five-furlongs of the straight course.

Ellis was denied a three-timer as his mount Midnight Flight (7-2) led at every point of the five furlongs round ninth event except at the winning post. Bet at 3-1, Magnificent Force (USA) pursued in the frontrunner in last furlong and arrived in the final stride to score by a short head in the driving finish.The four-year imported filly was saddled by former 14-time champion condition and ridden by veteran Ian Spence.

The Training Feat Award is presented to Donovan Hutchison for his perseverance with Kellan, now four-years-old and running for only the fifth time.

The Best Winning Gallop was displayed by Magnificent Force (USA) with Ian “Dolly Baby” Spence bringing back memories of his past prowess to cop the Jockeyship Award.

In my next column I will be looking at the 33 years of delivering the racing product in a claiming system and the statistics included should be a major concern to the owners, promoters and regulators who cannot afford to ignore it for much longer.