Princess Annie a winner but claiming is her destiny

SINCE winning the Jamaica Oaks, a Classic race for fillies, only last year, Princess Annie has failed to progress.

Even after her win in high claiming ($850,000-$800,000) over one mile (1,600m) on Saturday (November 14), her trainer Wayne Dacosta was clear about the future of his horse saying Princess Annie is better off in the claiming ranks.

Ridden by Anthony Thomas, Princess Annie settled in mid-pack as Armageddon (Raddesh Roman) led the field ahead of Dontae (Youville Pinnock) and Dezzy The Genius (Orlando Foster).

Dontae took over at the halfway point with Secret Traveller (Christopher Mamdeen) going in chase as Princess Annie went by several horses and was looking dangerous when they entered the straight for the stretch run.

Sticking close to the inside rails, Princess Annie came with a strong run to overhaul the leaders with a furlong to go and romped home by four lengths in a time of 1:39.0. Dontae held for second, with Innovator (Matthew Bennett) getting the third slot.

“Well, she (Princess Annie) has been a major disappointment. After her Oaks victory, she never trained on and one error after the next and she was not good enough to win an Overnight Allowance race.

“Princess Annie has won only a handful of races because of complications. After winning the Oaks, she wasn’t able to come back to win her four races before going to Overnight and so basically, it was a combination of errors.

“She had leg problems and we finally decided to drop her in a claiming race. Even though she wasn’t claimed, Princess Annie will be coming right back,” he added.