Anthony Nunes

Confidently ridden by leading jockey Dane Nelson, Above and Beyond slammed the 14-horse field by 6-1/2 lengths for Nunes’s 22^nd Classic triumph in a fast one minute 38.80 seconds in the JA$2.8 Million (US$19.600) one-mile run for owners Rawdon Persad, Vickram Oditt & Rajendra Poonai.

Trainer Gary Subratie’s 5-2 second favourite ‘Another Affair’ was second and denied Nunes the top-three sweep as his long shots Sencity (26-1) and Glock (41-1) snatched third and fourth positions respectively.

It was Nunes’s fourth Fillies Guineas victory after ‘Latonia’ in 2004, ‘Selectabook’ (2013) and ‘I Am Di One’ last year. Nunes has now won five of the last six Classics at Caymanas Park, including his 2019 Triple Crown run with the colt ‘Supreme Soul’.

Breaking smartly from the 14-box, Above and Beyond raced very relaxed with the pacesetters down the backstretch and looked the winner from mid-race.

The chestnut filly, by ‘Blue Pepsi Lodge’ out of ‘Rumble’, cruised to the lead and when she quickened away from the busy Robert Halledeen aboard the chasing Another Affair leaving the half-mile, the picture of her motionless jockey told the story of race control.

Above and Beyond entered the homestretch with a two-length lead and steadily increased her advantage en route to her third win in seven career starts for groom Steven Smith.

The result also closed an afternoon triple for three-time champion jockey Nelson, who had piloted third race winner Generational and KJ Express to victory in the seventh.

Nelson had two previous Fillies Guineas wins with ‘Al Fouzia’ in 2000 and ‘Nuclear Affair’ in 2016 and engaged Above and Beyond in speedy split-times of 23.3, 45.3 and 1:10.2. The big filly still looked strong at the end under Nelson, who had been aboard for her two previous wins.

“Dane Nelson knows her inside out,” Nunes said about the race strategy.

Coming off her fourth place finish behind 2000 Guineas contender Nipster in her July 5 “prep” event, Nunes revealed he stepped up her training programme for the Classic season opener.

“We made sure to bring her over as fit as we could make her and as happy and as healthy as she could be and she did the rest,” said Nunes, who scored four wins on Saturday’s 11-race card. His other winners were ‘Generational’ in the third race, ‘Supreme Soul’ in the fifth and ‘KJ Express’ in the seventh.

Much like she did at exercise, the six-year-old bay mare, who is one of six overseas horses expected to line up in the lucrative Mouttet Mile in December, displayed pace and class in a comfortable 4-3/4 lengths win, in the three-year-olds and upward Non-Restricted Overnight Allowance contest for over five furlongs (1,000m) straight.

Conditioned by Howard Jaghai, American Tap, running from the wide number 13 draw in the 15-horse field, and quickly match strides with Ultimate Machine (Dane Dawkins), True Bravado (Phillip Parchment), and Press Conference (Richard Henry), in the early exchanges.

By the time the sort themselves out and came across the dummy rails, the Tapiture -American Castle mare, American Tap proved the superior speed, and with very little reminders from Foster, she briskly pulled away and powered home to justify the 1-2 favouritism.

American Tap stopped the clock in an eye-catching 58.2 seconds, after splits of 23.1 and 46.0 seconds, and the fact that she literally cantered the latter stages of the contest, all but indicates her credentials for what could be a fruitful outing in Jamaica.

Press Conference, Ring Charmer (Roger Hewitt) and Duke (Allan Maragh) completed the frame.

American Tap completed a double for Foster, who earlier piloted the Anthony Nunes-trained Captain Calico to victory in the seventh event.

Another in-form rider, Raddesh Roman, also had a double with Ricardo Brown’s KP Choice in the second event and From Sheer To Ben conditioned by Alford Brown in the ninth and final contest.

Gary Subratie’s face portrayed ease with a tad bit of excitement, as he watched the replay of a race where his highly rated filly Atomica comfortably brushed aside rivals and copped the third running of the Menudo Trophy over 10 furlongs (2,000m), at Caymanas Park on Saturday.

That delight on Subratie’s face was very much understandable given the fact that this was Atomica’s fourth-straight win, following a slight injury setback earlier this year, and the manner of this performance, underscored that the four-year-old filly is well and truly back to her best.

Running from the widest draw in the small five-horse of the three-year-olds and upward Graded Stakes/Open Allowance contest, Atomica, partnered with customary jockey Dane Dawkins got out well and settled behind Jason DaCosta’s Outbidder (Jerome Innis) entering the clubhouse turn.

In fact, Dawkins –instead of playing the cat-mouse game with his rival – bided his time with the Nuclear Wayne and Honkeytonkville progeny for most of the way and it wasn’t until the left the half-mile that he sent Atomica into the ascendancy.

While Outbidder and D Head Cornerstone (Sadiki Blake) were kicking up a storm in close quarters, Dawkins remained cool, calm and collected as he gradually released the rein on the talented filly approaching the stretch run.

Once there, it was a case of how far Atomica would win, especially with Dawkins giving her a glimpse of the left-hand stick to which she responded and went on to win by four lengths going away.

Atomica secured the lion’s share of the $1.75 million purse for owner Oakridge Farms and breeder Karl Samuda, as she stopped the clock in 2:08.2, behind splits of 24.1, 49.3, 1:13.2 and 1:40.4.

Miniature Man (Ramon Nepare), D Head Cornerstone and Outbidder, completed the frame.

Subratie, secured another win on the 10-race card courtesy of Sensational Move (Richard Henry), in the seventh race.

Former three-time champion Anthony “Baba” Nunes, also had a brace of winners in Mr Senator (Jawara Steadman) and Hoist The Mast (Tevin Foster), while Philip Feanny, saddled Gilbert, which completed Foster’s double, and I’ve Got Magic in the night pan ridden by Reyan Lewis.

Lewis, the leading rider, earlier won aboard Peter-John Parsard’s Neo Star in the day’s penultimate event.

Racing continues on Sunday with another 10-race programme.

Piloted by leading rider Reyan Lewis, the Jason DaCosta-trained Madelyn’s Sunshine, in only her second run off an almost five-month layup, showed that she is back to her competitive best. She won the six furlongs (1,200m) event by five-and-three-quarter lengths in a tidy 1:13.0 minutes, setting splits of 23.0 and 46.3 seconds.

After coming from off the pace behind Canadian American Tap over the five straight on last, Duke with Robert Halledeen was expected to play a starring role in the event which carried a purse of $1.25 million. This, as Madelyn’s Sunshine and a few others in the 14-horse field, was behind him in that same race won by American Tap.  

However, DaCosta’s four-year-old dark bay filly under a confident ride by Lewis, went straight in front shortly and repelled the challenge of Hoist The Mast (Paul Francis), Laban (Phillip Parchment), and KP Choice (Javaniel Patterson) in the run to the half-mile turn.

From there, the Carlton Watson-owned Madelyn's Sunshine was relaxed by Lewis, opening an almost three-length gap on her pursuers, and by the time she straightened for the stretch run, it became a question of how far she would win.

Laban finished second, as Race Car (Raddesh Roman) and Curlin’s Affair (Tevin Foster), completed the frame.

DaCosta said the winning run was always on the cards based on the filly's preparation.

"She trained exactly for this race, so we expected a good run from her. The time she won in was pretty decent which is no surprise because she has always been a talented filly it's just that she had her little problems but when she is good, she is good and the jockey rode her as expected," the leading trainer said after the event.

Lewis earlier won aboard Simba The Lion and Atlantic Convoy in the second and ninth events respectively, both over a mile (1,600m) for trainer Patrick Lynch.

Meanwhile, former three-time champion trainer Anthony "Baba" Nunes and Foster partnered for a double on the day. They won the sixth and eighth races with Wow How and Savvy Girl.

With the race card scheduled for Sunday being abandoned, the next scheduled race day will be next Saturday. It will feature the Jamaica Cup which represents a preparation race for prospects, who will possibly contest the lucrative Moutett Mile scheduled for early next month.

Champion trainer Anthony Nunes has declared his 2020 Champion two-year-old (2YO) colt Further and Beyond fitter for Saturday’s JA$3.75 million (US$25,195) 2000 Guineas than he was for last month’s Kingston Stakes.

“He has just progressively gotten fitter and fitter and we are happy with his fitness level,” Nunes told SportsMax this week. “I think he is as fit as we can make him.”

Meanwhile, Miniature Man’s form suggests his current rate of improvement is probably the most pronounced of all the 3YOs and could nullify Further and Beyond’s upgraded fitness.

“He’s improving at the right time. He is training well and I think he is coming to give us a good performance again,” trainer Jason DaCosta said of his charge.

Saturday’s one-mile Guineas is half-a-furlong longer than the 7-1/2-furlong Kingston Stakes just under a month ago and Miniature Man’s rousing finish coming from behind, suggests in theory, that he will relish the extended journey.

“He is the kind of horse that stays forever so I think the longer they go should be the better for him,” DaCosta said.

Both horses have already won over a mile, Further and Beyond flawless in his Supreme Ventures Jamaica 2YO Stakes triumph last December in a pretty-quick one minute 39 and 3/5ths of a second and Miniature Man had an April 17 win over the trip in 1:41 and 2/5ths.

Miniature Man is listed in the official race programme Track & Pools as the 7-5 morning line favourite ahead of Further and Beyond (5-2).

Trainers Nunes and DaCosta will saddle as many as 12 starters in the 16-horse 2000 Guineas field.

The rematch buzz is also amplified by commotion over the race-day judges’ ruling of a dead-heat in the May 8 Kingston event, with Miniature Man’s owner Elizabeth DaCosta – convinced her gelding narrowly won – challenging the dead-heat decision. DaCosta’s appeal has triggered a referral by the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) to its First Instance Tribunal to settle the disputed result.

Beaten 4-1/2 lengths on debut by Miniature Man in a Maiden 2YO race in October last year, Further and Beyond, owned by Rajendra Poonai and Vikram Oditt both from Guyana, Rawdon Persad from Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbadian Elias Haloute, quickly improved and now boasts a lifetime-record of five wins in seven starts. Miniature Man has three wins in eight starts.

Undefeated in two starts as a 3YO, Further and Beyond comes into the rematch more favourably at the scales as both horses now shoulder 126 pounds, compared to the Kingston when Nunes’s colt toted the 126-pound topweight and Miniature Man had 117 pounds.

The jockeys are also in the rematch story after the Kingston dead-heat. Four-time champion rider Dane Nelson, eyeing his first 2000 Guineas triumph, is aboard Further and Beyond again and Panama-born Dick Cardenas mounts Miniature Man targeting his third win in the Colts and Geldings Guineas, having scored previously with Mark my Word (2010) and Uncle Donny (2012).

Other leading contenders in the 2000 Guineas are Miniature Man’s stablemate Billy Whizz (4-1) and Nuclear Noon (9-2) from the Nunes barn.

Regal and Royal, a surprise third-place finisher in the Kingston at 99-1 odds, earns more betting respect this weekend, showing at 8-1 in the morning line odds.

Nunes goes into the weekend with a mammoth log of 23 Classic wins while DaCosta, recently back home -- from his base in the USA -- to run his late father Wayne DaCosta’s successful stable operations, has never won a Jamaican Classic.

For Saturday’s 1000 Guineas, the 7-5 favourite is She’s a Wonder from Ian Parsard’s barn. Undefeated as a 3YO, She’s a Wonder scored a pressured half-length win the May 1 Guineas prep Portmore Graded Stakes over Sensational Ending and Secret Identity, who are both back to challenge her again. DaCosta’s Sensational Ending is at 2-1 in the morning line odds and Secret Identity, trained by former jockey Tensang Chung is the 9-5 second favourite.

SportsMax 2 has live coverage of the Jamaica Guineas Classics on Saturday from 4:00 pm (5 E Caribbean).

Perfectly placed in the early stages of the one-mile (1,600m) contest, the Dale Murphy-conditioned Runaway Algo surged through approaching the half-mile and later coasted to a comfortable eight-length win in the three-year-olds and upward Graded Stakes/Open Allowance event, at odds of 3-5.

While Roman, who started his riding career in 2018, celebrated the milestone, he also beamed about the fact that it was a third consecutive win aboard the Lanmark Farms-owned American-bred charge, who again demonstrated his class among his peers.

Running from the number one draw in the six-horse field, Runaway Algo, a four-year-old colt by Algorithms-Misunify, was uncharacteristically slow out the blocks, allowing the Jason DaCosta pair of Outbidder (Jordan Barrett) and joint favourite I am Fred (Reyan Lewis) to dictate terms in the early exchanges. 

In fact, at that point, it seemed the usual cat-mouse tactics of the DaCosta stables would again be on show, but it proved futile on this occasion, as Roman sensed the ploy and soon forced his way between the two to assume the ascendancy. 

So confident was the Roman that he even glanced across at Lewis aboard I am Fred, as he went through, almost indicating that the race was all but done and dusted from there, as he moved two lengths clear.

As they approached the homestretch, Lewis rallied with a challenge on the outside but by the time the straightened and Roman released the reins on Runaway Algo, the fleet-footed footed colt went about business to secure the lion's share of the $1.75 million purse for his connections.

He completed the distance in a time of 1:38.0, behind splits of 24.2, 46.4 and 1:11.3.

I Am Fred and stablemate Outbidder stayed on for second and third respectively, with D Head Cornerstone (Sadiki Blake) in fourth.

"I am pleased and very proud of myself, it took a lot of hard work to get here, and I am just hoping there will be many more wins to come. I am just going to remain focus and continue putting in the hard work hard," Roman said in a post-race interview.

Meanwhile, trainer Howard Jaghai also registered his 100th career win courtesy of Premier Identity in the sixth event.

Premier Identity was also one of three winners for jockey Tevin Foster, who was the pick of his peers on the day. Foster's other winners were Buckaluck in the third event for trainer Adrian Prince and the Anthony Nunes-trained Milos in the ninth race.

Racing continues on Sunday with another 10-race card.