Mr Universe slams rivals
MR UNIVERSE yesterday served warning on the country’s top sprinters, posting a fast 58.1 to win the 1000-metre straight G.A. ‘Sarge’ Bucknor Memorial in convincing fashion.
The speedy four-year-old colt made all the running in midtrack from postposition five, landing his second consecutive race in two weeks, finishing two and a half lengths clear of 8-1 chance SARAH LEE.
MR UNIVERSE, the evenmoney chance, closed a double for jockey Gary Richards and a three-timer for champion trainer Wayne DaCosta, who had won the previous event with another favourite, 8-5 shot RAMBUNCTIOUS LINKS.
DaCosta and Richards first struck in the fourth event with YAYA’S DREAM at odds of 7-1 before MR UNIVERSE brought down the curtain on the 10-race card.
DaCosta’s three-timer extended his lead atop the trainers’ title race to approximately $1.8 million after trailing his perennial rival, Anthony Nunes, up to two racemeets ago.
Champion apprentice Anthony Thomas also opened up on his rival, Shane Ellis, atop the jockeys’ stable, booting home back-to-back winners – ALEXANDRA and BIG MISTAKE – in the seventh and eighth races, respectively.
Thomas’ double moved him 10 clear of Ellis to 40 winners, keeping him on course for a solid shot at the jockeys’ championship following his meteoric rise in the last quarter of 2017.
Racing continues at Caymanas Park on Wednesday with the holiday, Labour Day, meet ahead of next Saturday’s Lotto Classic Governor’s Cup for three-year-olds, a major prep for the June 30 Jamaica Derby.