The analysis for Saturday, June 27, 2020
FORMER three-time champion Dane Nelson set himself up for a good day by scoring in the opening event with the Ryan Derbyconditioned Supreme Authority.
Running with top weight, the six-year-old Us-bred gelding took full advantage of the favourable post position 13 in the 16-horse field and was in front by 3 ½ lengths at the winning post.
Lightly-raced Super Glitterman did reinsman Ruja Lahoe a good turn by sprinting in front of 10 rivals and by running well in the closing stages of race two to score by just over a length for Michael Beecham to earn the trainer’s allotted 15 per cent of the purse in race three.
Half-an-hour later, it turned out to be the start of a productive day for in-form jockey Dane Dawkins and trainer Patrick Lynch. Fit from a fifth-place finish eight days before; their High Diplomacy ran on well to collar favourite Generational by three parts of a length to secure the third.
Race four presented welltrained Deep Blue Sea (Raddesh
Roman) with the opportunity to demonstrate that he has recovered well from a lame-looking gallop back in October 2019 to win by 16 lengths. This gave trainer Johnny Wilmot his first of two winners on the day.
The fifth event gave the considerable fan club of Dane “Warrior Chief” Nelson more to shout about his ability in the saddle. Nelson’s mount Desrianna was off to her customary slow start, but under machine-like handling was able to reel in long-time front runner Fabulosity (Omar Walker) to score by a neck for trainer Rowan Mathie.
Trainer Patrick Lynch’s second trip to the winners’ enclosure was made possible by Wilson (Robert Halledeen) when the gelding wore down the leader and favourite Dee Danger in the day’s sixth event.
This was followed in the seventh by Shane Ellis’s wonderful schooling of champion trainer’s Anthony Nunes nicely named Fantastic Feeling. In front immediately, Ellis kept her carefully balanced to produce the maximum effort when it mattered to thwart the late burst of wide-running
Cold Pursuit by three parts of a length.
Gifted the winning purse of the eighth by the weight allotment, veteran Paul Francis pushed Balazo into a clear lead in the stretch run and maintained it by 2 1/2 lengths for trainer’s Johnny Wilmot’s second winner.
The ninth was rather anti-climactic as Ian Parsard’s gelding Mahogany (Dane Dawkins) demonstrated he would be ready for the 2000 Guineas on July 26 with a comfortable 4 ½ length victory margin. On the other hand, the much-anticipated clash with England’s Rose did not materialise as England’s Rose could only manage third over eight lengths adrift to send trainer Wayne Dacosta back to the drawing board to get her ready for the 1000 Guineas effort on July 25.
Second generation trainer Gary Subratie presented Michros’s Another Affair for race 10 in much-improved condition. The filly had her rivals in trouble early and beat them by 9 ½ for Dawkins’ third winning ride and the fifth in the two race days since resumption after the COVID-19imposed three-month hiatus on Caymanas races.
After his intensely competitive exertions to land the sixth with Wilson, Robert Halledeen confirmed that race-riding could be hard to win the 11th. Leading in the upper stretch trainer Gary Crawford’s Action Run had his advantage under serious threat from Fresh Cash over the last 100 metres, but Halledeen’s determination kept his mount’s head in front.
Even money favourite Prince Charles justified the closing event’s odds to give Nelson his third win and Nunes his second. Surprisingly in front early in the home straight, Prince Charles, who prefers to see his rivals for as long as possible, demonstrated his utter dislike for this tactic, idled in the lead and only scored by a fast diminishing three parts of a length.
THE AWARDS
The Training Feat Award is presented to Patrick Lynch for Wilson’s performance after being absent from May 2019. Mahogany is unchallenged for the Best Winning Gallop accolade. Robert Halledeen’s hard-fought success aboard Wilson and Action Run has to be an uncontested selection for the Jockeyship Award.