Princess Annie wins ‘royal’ finish in Rum Fire Jamaica Oaks
In what turned out to be a royal finish, Princess Annie defeated Princess Ava to easily win the 80th edition of the Rum Fire White Overproof Rum Jamaica Oaks at Caymanas Park yesterday.
The 10-furlong Classic race was billed to be a simple task for the eventual 1-5 favourite I Am Di One but proved otherwise as Princess Annie swept all before her to win her second career race.
The Wayne Dacosta-trained, Carlton Watson-owned, YS (1955) Limited-bred and Phillip Parchment ridden bay filly by Northern Giant – Millennium beat her closest rival, the 45-1 long shot Princess Ava (Linton Steadman) by 3 ¼ lengths with the 1-5, I Am Di One (Simon Husbands) finishing a surprisingly third and Lady Blue (Omar Walker) fourth. Princess Annie is the first horse by Northern Giant to race.
After finishing seven lengths in fifth place in the 1000 Guineas (one mile) behind I Am Di One, Princess Annie clearly demonstrated her likeness for the longer distances, winning in a time of 2:13.2.
“This is my hard work in the mornings finally paying off. I have been riding for quite a
while now and to win my first Classic race is a joy which I cannot describe. This horse gets better and better when going long and today (Saturday) she showed it,” Parchment said.
For owner Carlton Watson, it was something really special.
“This is wonderful. This is a dream to have won my first Classic race, it was just amazing. This is why you spend money and buy horses at year time,” Watson said.
For trainer Wayne Dacosta it was his sixth Oaks win, having won in 1984 with Thornbird, 1999 with Good Prospect, 2006 with Swing By, 2012 with Exotic Gold and 2016 with A Thousand Star.
Parchment held Princess Annie well off the pace as Formal Fashion (Reyan Lewis) led the field went by the stands for the first time with I Am Di One and Lady Blue chasing.
Lady Blue took over going around the clubhouse turn but was immediately surrounded by I Am Di One entering the main track with Princess Annie settling with the backmarkers.
In the backstretch, I Am Di One continued to lead over Lady Blue and the two drew away from the field in what looked to be a repeat of the recent 1000 Guineas.
Turning for home, I Am Di One looked strong on the lead as Lady Blue was not gaining, however, Princess Ava and Princess Annie were making headway against the inside rails and looking to be a threat as the horses went by the furlong and a half (300m) pole.
Inside the final furlong (200m) I Am Di One, who started to drift out, was not quickening and that left Princess Annie to take up the running and that she did, and went on for the victory.
Elsewhere on the card, trainers Philip Feanny and Anthony Nunes, and jockeys Anthony Thomas and Kiaman Mcgregor won two races each.