Smooth victory expected for Anthony Thomas
APPRENTICE Anthony Thomas gets a freebie aboard Anthony Nunes’ SIEMPRE BUENO on Wednesday, an armchair ride which should keep him in touch with leading rider Shane Ellis in their battle atop the jockeys’ table.
The breakout jock of last season, two-kilo claimer Thomas was the most dominant rider at the back end of 2017, winning the Caribbean Sprint with CHACE THE GREAT and the Superstakes, a chance ride astride SHE’S A MANEATER.
Thomas has continued to spark this year, alternating on the lead with Ellis, a two-time champion and runner-up to Omar Walker last year. However, Ellis, for the last two racedays, has forged ahead by one win, coming from two down, after Thomas failed to ride a winner in consecutive meets.
Both riders are on solid mounts and set to dominate the nine-race midweek card. Thomas, however, has the sixth event in the bag with Anthony Nunes’ SIEMPRE BUENO at 1,000 metres straight, despite the presence of his super-fit stablemate, ORPHEUS.
In a race stacked with three of his stablemates, SIEMPRE BUENO will carry 117lb, getting nine pounds from ORPHEUS. In fact, only one runner in the sixhorse line-up is lighter than SIEMPRE BUENO, his distancerunning stablemate, DONTAE, who comes in at 115lb.
The last time SIEMPRE BUENO ran five furlongs straight, he clocked 57.0, the fastest time at the distance in quite a while, four-fifths outside the track record, even after being slowly into stride with 57.0 kilos.
Thomas could close a threetimer as he also looks good for the last double, STORM PRINCESS and REGGAE ROAD.
Ellis should open the card with SQUIT and seems to have established a winning partnership with Errol A Subratie, whose TRUE WHISPER he rides in the fourth after winning for the trainer three times aboard BIG BLACK NATION and PIANO MAN on Saturday.