FURTHER AND BEYOND FOR SVL JAMAICA TWOYEAR-OLD STAKES
Anthony nunes’ talented colt Further and Beyond seems all set to bag the Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) Jamaica two-year-old Stakes, the third and final leg in the two-year-old series at Caymanas Park today.
Further and Beyond is one of four runners in the 10-horse field for Nunes, who is well on his way to securing a second-consecutive title in the Trainers’ Championships and victory in this one-mile (1,600m) event, which carries a total purse of $4 million, would be the icing on the cake for the stables.
Post time on the 11-race card is 11:00 am.
After winning the Pick3 Super Challenge Trophy over seven furlongs (1,400m) in commanding fashion last month, Further and Beyond, who is rated as the top juvenile at the moment, should again show his class against these and close the year in winning fashion.
Further and Beyond, the brother to Jamaica Oaks winner Above and Beyond ,is bred to get a distance of ground, which means he should be even more at home at a mile, especially given his running style.
Title-chasing rider Dane Nelson is scheduled to ride Further and Beyond, but uncertainties surround whether or not he will be in the saddle today, having missed yesterday’s race card due to injury.
Both Nelson and Anthony Thomas are locked on 84 winners each in the run-off for the Jockeys’ title, but uncertainties also surrounds Thomas’s presence for today’s programme after he also missed yesterday’s race day with illness. Thomas is slated to ride Billy Whizz, one of three runners in the field for trainer Wayne Dacosta.
Should both riders remain out for today, it would result in the title being shared for the first time since the 1970s, when Richard Depass and Jose Bravo ended on 53 wins each.
Of Nunes’ other runners, Calculus, who found stablemates Hoist The Mast and Go Deh Girl too hot to handle on December 13, travelling six furlongs, seems to have a liking for longer distances, and as such, could enter the reckoning here with his usual late surge in deep stretch.
Hoist The Mast is a consistent filly who returned to winning ways in the Dye Job Sprint over six furlongs on December 13. Hoist The Mast won by a gutsy 3 3/4 length ahead of previously undefeated fellow stablemate filly Go Deh Girl in a time of 1:12.2.
With that effort, Hoist The Mast should be competitive here, but she seems to be a sprinting sort, and with this race going a mile, it’s a wait and see how this filly will finish, while Santorini is no match for the leading juveniles so far and should again fall off target.
Billy Whizz scored an emphatic win in the $2-million Front Runner Cup over six furlongs on December 5 in a time of 1:13.1. Based on that run, Billy Whizz’s chances, in this the top juvenile event, are enhanced and, having giving an indication that he prefers to go longer, then a mile should be right up his street.
Den Street came into the Pick3 Super Challenge Trophy unbeaten in three career starts, but was stopped in his tracks by Further and Beyond. With Further and Beyond again present, Den Street may have to settle for another position in the pecking order.
Dacosta’s other runner, Rusty, is the only runner in the race to have won over today’s distance when he took the Andrew Aguilar Memorial Cup by 2 ¼ lengths in a time of 1:40.0 after leading from start to finish. But even with those credentials, Rusty has a hard task ahead of him.
The same is true for Steven Todd’s Awesome Choice and the Gary Subratie-conditioned Nuclear Noon.
Meanwhile, Ian Parsard’s She’s A Wonder was expected to be among the leading contenders in the Pick3 Super Challenge Trophy after her impressive win in the Abbie Grannum Memorial Cup over seven furlongs in a time of 1:25.4 on November 13.
In the Pick3 event, She’s A Wonder laid down her challenge early but faltered in the straight which means her chances of winning at a mile here are truly slim. However, she could cause some anxious moments if left unmolested on the lead for too long.