The most dramatic, incident-filled, feature race in the 59-year history of horse racing at Caymanas Park unfolded on Saturday, December 1, 2018 before and during the fourth running of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission/Supreme Ventures Limited Diamond Mile.

Thousands of racing fans at the track and viewers on television were left bewildered by the sequence of events that saw Will In Charge scrape home by a short head over Bigdaddykool, with Chace The Great third in the country’s then richest race.

Will In Charge took over the lead with about a furlong and a half to go. But jockey Robert Halledeen literally stopped riding, choosing instead to engage in a premature celebration. That allowed Dick Cardenas to push Bigdaddykool closer and closer, with the rival just failing by a short head to pip Will In Charge on the wire.

“What I did was very stupid. I knew we won the race, but it was wrong of me to start celebrating so early when the race was not over,” a contrite Halledeen said afterwards.

Before Halledeen’s antics in the saddle, the 2018 Diamond Mile suffered a cataclysmic shock.

The 3-5 favourite and defending champion She’s A Maneater bolted from the number 12 starting stall. Based on film footage, Peking Cruz in stall 11 started to rail and jump, eventually falling on his backside.

That caused She’s A Maneater in 12 to become jittery and uneasy. Omar Walker, aboard She’s A Maneater, had to dismount while the filly was still being held by a gate attendant as she became increasingly fractious.

She’s A Maneater then bolted through the front of her stall, jumped the inside rails onto the infield, and ran loose around the oval before being taken in hand by attendants, including groom Lewisito DaCosta. Both She’s A Maneater and Peking Cruz were declared late non-starters.

For Will In Charge, it capped a remarkable year — five wins from seven starts.

For confident trainer Robert Pearson, it was the major feather in his career cap. The winning time was 1:37.0, the slowest in the four-year history of the Diamond Mile. The splits were 23.0 x 45.0 x 1:09.3.

“Naturally, I am very happy to have won the Diamond Mile, which has been my dream for a while now.

“I was really sad to see what happened to She’s A Maneater, but racing is tough sometimes and you never know what will happen. I would have preferred to have won with her in the race. I am glad that she is okay, as first of all, it is very important for the horse to be okay.

“I am happy, yes, but not pleased with the way the jockey started to celebrate with the race not over as yet. Truly, I am sure, I almost had a heart attack when I saw him [jockey] behaving the way he did and things got so close,” Pearson had said.