Jockey Delroy Beharie ended an eight-month drought on Saturday (September 19) when he piloted Hazelnut (Soul Warrior – Money Magnet) to victory in the nightcap.

Beharie, who has been riding since 2006, opened 2026 in perfect fashion, winning aboard Phenomenal Power from his first ride on January 3. But after that promising start, winners proved hard to come by, with just two second-place finishes in the interim.

The Adrian Prince-trained four-year-old chestnut filly Hazelnut changed that in the Restricted Allowance IV contest for native-bred four-year-old and upwards (non-winners of three) and imported four-year-olds and upward (non-winners of two) over 5 ½ furlongs (1,100m).

Beharie sent Hazelnut straight to the front and kept her there. The filly carved out splits of 23.3, 48.3 and 1:01.2 and pulled clear in the stretch to win by 2¼ lengths in 1:08.0.

Nephew (Demar Williams) was second and Princess Kris (Ian Spence) third. It was Beharie’s second win of the season.

— Ruddy Allen