Duke to lead the charge in ‘Jolly Man’ Memorial Trophy
AFTER finishing a close third behind the stablemate pair of She’s A Wonder and Rojorn di Pilot in the Open Allowance I’msatisfied Trophy event last Saturday, five-year-old grey horse Duke should have no problem beating rivals in the $1-million Vassell “Jolly Man” Najair Memorial Trophy feature at Caymanas Park today.
Duke came from five lengths down in sixth place in the six-furlong (1,200m) I’msatisfied to finish just a length and a quarter behind the winner in a blistering 1:12.0 for the distance.
Panamanian Dick Cardenas rode a controlled race and sat off the pace with his mount, waiting for Duke’s effort in the straight, but the Gary Subratie trainee’s final rattle was not enough to get home.
Truth be told, Duke, who steps down here to compete in this Non-restricted Overnight Allowance company, is much better than this level and can dismantle this field at any given time. The pace in this one should be milder, thereby giving Duke a better opportunity of being closer to the leaders before running on in the straight. Note: The figure 8 has been taken off and Robert Halledeen has replaced Cardenas in the saddle.
The Jolly Man Memorial Trophy, a three-year-old and upward race going five and a half furlongs (1,100m), is positioned as the ninth event on the 10-race card with a post time of 3:45 pm. First race has a post time of 11:00 am.
Horses that should also be in the running for top honours could come from the lot of Stranger Danger, Another Bullet, Drummer Boy and Loose Ball.
Stranger Danger is without a win in nearly two years. He is not the horse he once was, when destroying the top class, however, he has been slowly recovering from his ailments and has been getting into some kind of form, and with the leading rider aboard he is expected to run his best race in a long while. Note: The blinkers have been put on.
Another Bullet is also without a win for some time now as he has not tasted victory in a race since October 5, 2019. He is, however, getting his act together slowly but Another Bulletis likely going to find these younger horses too hot to handle.
Drummer Boy had finished second behind Victory Turn over five furlongs (1,000m) round on August 25, and that effort should see Drummer Boy bang in contention for top honours. Plus, he has received a substantial pull in the weights. Drummer Boy has been around for a while and is known to spring a surprise when it is least expected.
Loose Ball has had run some good and competitive races of late but is not as effective on the round course as he is coming down the straight.
Meanwhile, the illustrious Royal Dad, the first horse to win the vaunted Triple Crown series of races at Caymanas Park, will be honoured with this year’s edition of the trophy race which bears his name.
The Royal Dad race is for local three-year-old and four-year-old horses (non-winners of four races) and imported three-year-old and upwards horses (non-winners of three races). Eight runners will contest this year’s running over the two turns of nine furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m).
The race looks to be a straight fight between Billy Whizz, trained by Jason Dacosta and to be ridden by Cardenas, and the Anthony Nunestrained and Linton Steadman-ridden
Santorini.
Billy Whizz was expected to win the inaugural running of the Winston Griffiths Classic over nine and a half furlongs (1,900m) on September 4, but finished second to Santorini.
The Winston Griffiths Classic was
Santorini’s first win of the season and, based on that effort, he can win again — especially with his liking for two turns — but is worse off in the handicaps when compared with his main opponent Billy Whizz.