‘Road to the Triple Crown’ kicks off at Caymanas Park
IT’S a major moment for native-bred three-year-olds, with the Hotline Stakes and Sir Howard Stakes kicking off the ‘Road to the Triple Crown’ at Caymanas Park this afternoon.
The fillies take centre stage in the Hotline Stakes while the colts and geldings battle it out in the Sir Howard Stakes. Both races are over six furlongs (1,200m), with purses of $1.2 million up for grabs.
The Hotline Stakes is the fourth race at 1:40 pm, and the Sir Howard Stakes is the seventh race at 3:40 pm. The card starts at 11:45 am.
A small but talented field of six runners is to contest the Hotline Stakes ,with Giving Thanks and Taylor Made leading the way.
Giving Thanks, a bay filly bred by Bern Identity out of the Storm Craft mare Lighting Lily, was an impressive winner of over 10 lengths on January 17 over six furlongs. She made one move to win in a time of 1:15.2. She’s facing Taylor Made here, who defeated her on debut, but Giving Thanks is expected to turn the tables and beat the rest of the field as well. Tevin Foster remains in the saddle for trainer Philip Feanny.
Taylor Made, a grey filly bred by Aveenu Malcainu out of the He’stherealthing mare Another Fury, won easily by 2¼ lengths on debut on December 21, 2025 but followed up with a disappointing effort on January 24, 2026. She has speed and pace, and is likely to make a brave bid here. Trainer Jason DaCosta, who had just saddled his 400th career winner on Sunday, March 15, has called upon the services of Robert Halledeen.
The remaining runners in the field are Minnehaha, Dream Catcher, Lexi Lou, and Midnight Traveller.
The Howard Stakes should also come down to a fight between two runners –– the Anthony Nunes-conditioned Dashallday and the Gary Subratie-conditioned Salute The Don.
Dashallday finished in third place behind two talented foreigners on last on February 8. Dashallday has been training well coming into this race, and facing only local runners here he is tipped to win. He is bred by Aveenu Malcainu out of the Blue Pepsi Lodge mare Runallday. Two-time champion jockey Raddesh Roman will ride again.
Salute The Don (Aveenu Malcainu – Abicadabby) is a very talented colt who makes his seasonal debut here. Salute The Don finished five lengths in second place behind We Jammin in the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes in December 2025. He has been timely prepared for this and is expected to fight out the finish. Dane Dawkins remains in the saddle.
Looking at the rest of the runners in the 10-horse field, Mohanlal, trained by Hall of Famer Richard Azan, could be the dark horse. He underperformed last time out when he finished in fifth place behind Fernado on January 24 but now looks better at exercise and is expected to improve. He previously won the Miss Ruth Trophy on December 20, 2025, with a dominant, 8½-length victory which says a lot about his talent.
Fidelity, Uncle Nally, So Luck Am I, Darwin, Manoletti Majestic, London Spirit, and God’s Plan complete the field.
