Rideallday blasts to Ian Levy Cup glory
Horse of the Year shatters Track and Stakes records, books Mouttet Mile Spot; jockey Dane Dawkins reaches 500-win milestone aboard Desert of Malibu
In a breathtaking display of speed and power, four-year-old, American-bred, grey roan colt Rideallday stormed to victory in the $4-million Ian Levy Cup feature at Caymanas Park on Monday, shattering the Track and Stakes records and cementing his status as one of the island’s top horses.
Trained by Philip Feanny and ridden by Ian Spence, Rideallday (Vekoma – Song of Hours) blew away the competition in the Graded Stakes contest over eight and a half furlongs (clocking 1:41.4 (22.4 x 44.4 x 1:10.3 x 1:35.4) to erase the 29-year-old mark of 1:42.1 set by Smile ‘N’ Leave in 1997. With the win, Rideallday has booked his spot in this year’s Mouttet Mile, a title he won last season.
Rideallday sat third behind Pack Plays (Chris Mamdeen) and California Crown (Aaron Chatrie) for most of the way before surging to the front at the top of the straight full of running. With a timely whip from Spence, Rideallday powered home to win by 3 ¼ lengths ahead of stablemate Supernatural Power (Raddesh Roman) and Barnaby (Tajay Suckoo).
Meanwhile, Dane Dawkins celebrated a milestone 500th career win aboard Desert of Malibu, who easily romped home in the $1.25-million Easter Sprint Cup secondary feature race and Overnight Allowance contest for three-year-olds and upward over five and a half furlongs (1,100m).
Desert of Malibu battled with Mighty Gully (Tevin Foster) in the early exchanges before asserting her dominance approaching the distance. Desert of Malibu went on to win by 4 ½ lengths in a time of 1:06.2 (22,3 x 46.3 x 59.2) ahead of Mighty Gully and Another One.
“It feels really good winning 500 races,” Dawkins said.
Racing continues on Saturday.