No sweat for Divine Force in Delapenha Memorial
DIVINE Force led from the start and was never headed in a dominating run to win Saturday’s $1.25-million Lloyd Linbergh “Lindy” Delapenha Memorial Trophy main race at Caymanas Park, thanks to a well-executed ride from jockey Tevin Foster.
The four-year-old, Americanbred bay colt Divine Force won the Overnight Allowance contest for three-year-olds and upward over one mile (1,600m) by a length and a quarter, hitting the wire in a time of 1:39.4 (23.2 x 46.0 x 1:11.2).
Divine Force broke off nicely at the start of the race and was slightly ahead of
Babylike (Raddesh Roman) and
I Realise (Robert Halledeen) as they passed the seven-furlong (1,400m) marker. Divine Force kept a steady gallop as they thundered down the backstretch, before the Philip Feanny pupil stretched his lead into the half-mile (800m) bend.
Divine Force came off the home bend looking nice in his gallop while holding a strong lead, with Regal and Royal (Jerome Innis) and D Head Cornerstone (Dane Dawkins) close behind.
Despite D Head Cornerstone’s challenge at the furlong pole (200m) Divine Force found extra oomph under Foster and edged home for his second-straight win. D Head Cornerstone finished second while Regal and Royal came in third.
Teflon Don, owned by Elizabeth Dacosta, trained by Jason Dacosta, and ridden by Robert Halledeen, easily won the $1.05-million Mercury Sprint, a maiden special weight race for native-bred three-yearold colts and geldings over five furlongs (1,000m) straight.
Teflon Don won by 9½ lengths in a time of 1:01.2, ahead of The General (Dane Dawkins) and Bold Shadow (Tevin Foster).
Jockeys Omar Walker and Raddesh Roman both registered two wins each on the nine-race card.
Walker’s winners were
Galway Bay in the first race for trainer Donovan Plummer and
Babylove in the night pan for trainer Errol Subratie. Roman won aboard Provocativa in the second race for trainer Rohan Crichton and Chitu Prince in the day’s sixth race, giving trainer Alfred Davidson his first career win.
Racing continues on Wednesday with a 10-race card, with the first post at 11:40 am.