Conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Richard Azan and ridden by reigning champion jockey Dane Dawkins, Mojito again underlined his credentials as the best among his lot at the moment with this, a fifth-straight win on the trot, in his seven-race career. His other two runs were second-place finishes.
Having won the Prince Consort over seven furlongs (1,400m) by 5 1/2 lengths, in 1:26.2 and, The Kingston by 15 lengths in a flat 1:33.0, over seven and a half furlongs (1,500m) on his way to the Guineas, it was a matter of how far Mojito would romp the $3.75-million Classic event.
The answer was a resounding 12 ½ lengths in a time of 1:37.2, behind splits of 24.1, 46.3 and 1:10.3.
Running from post position number two in the nine-horse field, Mojito left the gates well but suffered early traffic problems and, as such, was relegated to the back of the pack.
However, room opened up on the inside rails which Dawkins gladly accepted and soon joined Awesome Anthony (Javaniel Patterson) on the headline at the six-furlong point.
When Dawkins gave the signal, Mojito made big move and took the lead heading toward the five and later slipped away by three lengths leaving the half mile.
The gap widened coming in the stretch and Mojito continued to power away from rivals with Dawkins barely moving a muscle.
Money Miser (Reyan Lewis) was second with Ability (Linton Steadman) and Rhythm Buzz (Anthony Thomas), completing the frame.
Given the manner of his victory, Mojito is now heavily favoured to secure Triple Crown honours with the 12-furlong Jamaica Derby and 10-furlong St Leger to come.
Azan, who along with Alexander Haber, bred and own Mojito, is already rating the grey colt among the top horses he has conditioned in an illustrious career.
“I said he is one of the best because I have trained some really good horses so now he ranks up there right with them,” Azan said in a post-race interview.
“To be honest, I was a little worried at first but the jockey knows the horse very well, I was actually surprised that he went so quickly to the lead but then he relaxed after that and you know the rest was history. It is just about maintaining him from here because we still have two-more races to go for the Triple Crown,” he added.
Meanwhile, leading rider Reyan Lewis topped his peers with three wins on the 10-race card. He won the opening event aboard Carl Anderson’s Tocatbetheglory, the fourth aboard the Phillip Feanny-conditioned Inspire Force and the seventh race with Life Is Life, trained by Jason DaCosta.
Armond, who was 67, was one of regional horse racing’s premier executives and served the sport in various capacities for some 40 years before retiring in 2020.
Armond, who followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a racing administrator, first shot to prominence as a commentator in the late 1970s. Rated as one of the best in the business he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone award in 1984.
Armond went on to have a commentary stint in Detroit, Michigan before heading into administration. During his time as an administrator, Armond served as Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), in his home country Jamaica, Executive Officer of the Arima Race Club in Trinidad, and a chief executive at the Barbados Turf club for eight years. Armond was celebrated for longstanding service at a ceremony, at Jamaica’s Caymanas Park in December 2020.
Trained by Ian Parsard, Huntsman, who was out for the third time in his budding career, dismantled the field by some 16 lengths and completed the nine furlongs and 25 yards (1,820m) journey in a respectable 1:58.2. The splits were 27.3, 53.1, 1:17.2 and 1:43.2.
This was Huntsman's second win, with his next performance being a second-place finish behind 2000 Guineas winner and leading St Leger contender, Mojito. As such, the 10-furlong St Leger to be contested on July 1, promises a great confrontation between the two and there are still some late-developing three-year-olds likely to have an impact.
Though he welcomed the win as a good indicator that Huntsman is more comfortable over distances, Parsard said it is still a wait-and-see approach with Huntsman regarding the St Leger, as his main target is the blue riband Jamaica Derby over 12 furlongs.
"I didn't think he had a realistic chance against Mojito in the Guineas, I think Mojito is way ahead of the three-year-old crop quite frankly, and I think coming out of the (eight-furlong) shoot, we wouldn't have had much of a chance," he said I'm reference to Huntsman's absence from the opening Classic event.
"We have to be a little bit gingerly with this horse, he has some issues, but we decided to take our chances coming two turns, so we will see, at least he won here so we will keep going. He is making good steady progress, he didn't have a lot of competition so he was allowed to dictate the pace, but in the Classic races, he won't have that luxury so hopefully we will see if he can progress from here. If he comes out of this well, then we will shoot for the St Leger, but the main objective is the Derby," Parsard added.
Partnered with jockey Reyan Lewis, Huntsman left the gates well and was kept slightly outside Burlap (Dane Dawkins) in the clubhouse turn before gaining the ascendancy on the backstretch.
Despite being in a tight hold, Huntsman continued to widen the gap, especially after leaving the half-mile, and from there it became a mere formality as his rivals had no response to his devastating late kick.
Burlap was best of the rest in second position with From Sheer To Ben (Anthony Thomas) and Life Is Life, finishing third and fourth respectively.
Huntsman was one of two winners for Lewis on the nine-race card, as the leading rider also won aboard Inspire Force for trainer Philip Feanny in the seventh race.
Also with two winners on the day were former three-time champion jockey Anthony Thomas and current champion jockey Dane Dawkins.
Thomas piloted Aava Jaelyn in the sixth race for trainer Donovan Thompson and Mrs Lyndhurst for trainer Steven Todd in the eighth race, while Dawkins won aboard Casual Peach for trainer Barrington Bernard in the fourth race and Get A Pepsi for trainer Errol Burke in the last race.
With Jason DaCosta’s ante-post favorite Is That A Fact scratched from the event, Azan’s four-year-old bay gelding, partnered with Tevin Foster, proved too good in the $1.4 million feature, registering an eighth career win, and third of the season.
Though well backed at odds of 5-2, Perfect Brew was expected to have a difficult task of getting back to his more fleet-footed competitors Rojorn Di Pilot (Omar Walker), Lure of Lucy (Jerome Innis), Jordon Reign’s (Dane Dawkins) and I’ve Got Magic (Bebeto Harvey) in the dash.
The predictions seemed likely to play out when Perfect Brew, drawn post position four, broke behind rivals and was quickly switched to the inside rails by Foster.
This, as Rojorn Di Pilot assumed pole ahead of Lure of Lucy (Jerome Innis), I’ve Got Magic (Bebeto Harvey), and God of Love (Anthony Allen), before Jordon Reign's swept by all to dictate terms in the early exchanges.
As the frontrunners continued to jostle for the headlines to try and steal a march on the field, Perfect Brew and Foster soon got into stride and moved within striking distance by the time they flashed past the half-mile mark.
Though still under a fairly tight hold by Foster, Perfect Brew was full of running which he unleashed in the stretch run. While Jordon Reign's and I've Got Magic engaged in a bumping duel on the inside rail, Foster took the Bern Identity-Moonlight Brew progeny three wide.
And with quick change of his hold, followed by a show of the left-hand whip, the in-form jockey and Perfect Brew briskly swept by their rivals and powered away at the furlong pole to complete a four-and-a-half length victory.
They stopped the clock in 1:12.1, behind splits of 23.0 and 46.1 seconds.
I’ve Got Magic, Jordon Reign’s and Rojorn Di Pilot, completed the frame.
Meanwhile, DaCosta, along with jockeys Phillip Parchment and Dane Dawkins secured two winners each on the 10-race card.
Dawkins won the seventh and 10th events for the Princess Popstar and Reggae Roots Rocking Trophies, aboard DaCosta’s Digital One, and Errol Burke’s Nakamura.
DaCosta’s other winner was Parchment-partnered Phenomenal One in the eighth, ran for the Reggae Legend Trophy. Parchment earlier won the sixth event aboard Andrew McDonald’s War Horse, copping the Reggae Skanking Trophy.
Racing continues on Sunday.
The announcement was made in a ceremony at PROVEN Wealth Limited’s headquarters.
“We are very proud for Supreme Ventures to be associated with Proven Wealth. The Mouttet Mile is the pre-eminent celebration of horse racing in Jamaica,” said Executive Chairman of Supreme Ventures Limited, Gary Peart.
“It is the richest horse race in the Caribbean. The purse is over US $100,000 both for the Mouttet Mile and an ancillary race we call the Chairman’s Cup. The beautiful thing about the Mouttet Mile and where you see the best of Caymanas is the infield experience that our partners, PROVEN, have decided to come on board with. It will be a wonderful experience,” he added.
“It is our pleasure to partner with the team from Mouttet Mile,” said Assistant Vice President-Wealth Management at Proven Wealth, Miguel Walker.
“We believe that this prestigious sporting event is a game changer in the racing arena and here at PROVEN we are believers in innovation and performance, levers that once put in play, can lead to fundamental successes. We take this opportunity to congratulate our Partners, Supreme Ventures and Caymans Park and we wish them the very best on this execution,” Walker added.
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.
The performance, by all indications, demonstrated that the four-year-old chestnut colt will always be a force to reckon with going anywhere beyond six furlongs and, as such, his recent fourth-place finish attempting the five-furlong straight course for the first time on local soil, can be forgiven.
With last year's Mouttet Mile winner Excessive Force, who was expected to be the main challenger to Runaway Algo, scratched from the event, that made the Lanmark Farms-owned charges task that much easier, and he duly obliged in his usual gate-to-wire show.
Away cleanly under Raddesh Roman from the wide number six draw in the small field, Runaway Algo briskly assumed pole position with Duke (Reyan Lewis) briefly keeping his company, before the former gradually opened up and posted an opening quarter-mile in 24.1 seconds.
Though being tightly restrained by Roman, Runaway Algo breezed through a half-mile 1in 46.4, as Duke and Laban (Abigail Able) tried desperately to keep pace, particularly upon approaching the homestretch, but their efforts were futile.
With only a mere change of hold by Roman, Runaway Algo covered six furlongs in 1:10.2 and later opened up in the final furlong, still under a canter, to complete his third victory from five starts this season, in a decent 1:24.3.
Money Monster (Sadiki Blake), Sistren Treasure (Dane Dawkins) and Duke, took the next three placing.
Runaway Algo was one of three winners for Roman, who also won aboard I Am Interested in the fifth race for trainer Joseph Thomas and Antarctica in the sixth race for trainer Errol Waugh.
Jerome Innis rode two winners on the day in Badgyalriri for trainer Howard Jaghai in the fourth race and Sabina for trainer Owen Sharpe in the seventh race.
No trainer won more than one race.
Racing continues on Sunday with another nine-race card on offer, featuring the Mr Lover Lover Trophy. Post time is 12:15 pm.
SVREL Chairman Solomon Sharpe was naturally saddened by the passing of the man whom he considered a dear friend.
“I have many fond memories of working with Chris from the early days and was always impressed by his vast knowledge,” Sharpe said.
“He has done so much for Caymanas Park and the horseracing industry in general. I offer my condolences to his family and friends. He will be greatly missed.”
Armond, who was the Director of Racing at Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) enjoyed an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years and was held as the standard for horse race commentary throughout the region.
In 1984, he was awarded the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Golden Microphone Award for his commentary. Armond also commentated in Detroit, Michigan and served as an administrator in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados.
“For many Jamaicans, Armond is the voice of horseracing,” SVREL said in a statement Wednesday.
“From 1975 to 1985, Chris Armond established a new level of excitement and accuracy in race commentary with his distinguished vocal delivery. He provided colourful commentary in his distinctive voice, bringing horseracing into homes across the island.
“Even today, he remains the gold standard of commentating in the industry, not just locally but also for fans overseas.”
In addition to Armond’s iconic commentary, he also served as an administrator in the industry for many years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Thoroughbred Racing in June 2017 under the category of “Other Racing Personalities”.
It was seemingly natural for Christopher Joseph Armond to have a professional life as part of the racing industry. His father, Joseph, a Hall of Fame inductee, was co-managing director of Caymanas Park Limited, and his grandfather Altamont was the founder of the promoting company, Jamaica Turf Club. Armond carried on this family legacy and served as Director of Racing until his retirement on Sunday, December 27, 2020.
“Armond has left an indelible legacy in the sport of horseracing. His accomplishments are insurmountable and his contribution to the sport will never be diminished,” SVREL’s statement said.
“Our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time.”
The Caribbean Pool is a Caribbean inter-island commingling platform that allows for Caribbean Tote operators to bet into each other, thereby creating bigger pools, bigger profits for its member partners, and most importantly, bigger payouts to its punters.
The Pool will also facilitate greater cooperation and participation between the Caribbean Pool Operators with the aim of growing local racing both regionally and internationally.
Chairman of SVL Gary Peart outlined what this agreement means for the company.
“As we have been able to do for many of our other SVL brands, our goal for SVREL in 2022 is to continue our revenue growth through local, regional and international expansion. The Caribbean Pool aligns perfectly with our vision for the company and as such we are happy to participate as lead partner,” he said.
With the two largest regional racetracks onboard and an expectation that the Barbados Turf Club will sign on as early as January 2022 and the Royal St Lucia Turf Club joining in as soon as they resume racing in 2022, the Caribbean Pool is set to delight Caribbean racing fans.
Founder of The Caribbean Pool Kimani Robinson of the Kisero Group also reacted to the agreement.
“Our vision was to create a new and exciting regional simulcast portal that would generate greater returns for the Caribbean track and pool operators as well as their punters,” Robinson added.
Robinson, who noted that he first discussed the idea with SVL’s Chairman Peart where both men hammered out the constructs of the legal and technical structure required to make the platform a reality, added that regional merging is the future of horse racing in the Caribbean.
“Regional commingling is the future of Caribbean horse racing. A regionally commingled platform will create greater relevance and awareness for the sport which means greater economic benefits for all. There is no reason why the Caribbean Pool shouldn’t replicate for horse racing what West Indies Cricket did for regional cricket,” he said.
In terms of awareness, The Caribbean Pool has formed an alliance with the perfect regional media partners, the Caribbean's Home of Champions, SportsMax, who have agreed to become the home of all things Caribbean Pool and Caribbean Horse Racing.
SportsMax CEO Nicolas Matthews confirmed that “racing fans will be in for a treat as SportsMax beefs up its Caribbean horse racing coverage via the Caribbean Pool. Given our regional strength, especially in the participating Caribbean Pool countries being contemplated and our ambition of providing our audiences with more of what they want, the Caribbean Pool is a perfect fit for us”.
Along with coverage on their linear channels SportsMax and SportsMax2, SportsMax will include a dedicated channel within the SportsMax App called "SportsMax Racing" that will provide most of the Caribbean Pool’s racing content.
“Our team has worked side by side with the Kisero Group for months in making the Caribbean Pool a reality,” commented SVREL CEO Lorna Gooden.
“We are aggressively on a growth path for 2022 and though we have made significant headway in simulcasting our content internationally, we believe that regional growth for us will be faster and more responsive due to existing familiarity,” Gooden added, before expanding further on what the agreement demonstrates.
“This agreement is a further demonstration of the commitment and drive of the Board and management at Caymanas Park to expand the product offering available to our punters, to promote and establish Caymanas Park as the horseracing mecca of the Caribbean,” she said.
The Caribbean Pool is set to start in short order and is hoping to get all clearances and approvals granted for a soft launch over the Christmas holidays.
The announcement was made during a press conference to launch the 46th running of the 1000 and 2000 Guineas on Monday.
SVREL General Manager Lorna Gooden said the agreement allows SVREL to recover $13 million incurred in May.
“The MOU stated that if racing resumed on June 1, SVREL would recover the sum of $13 million which represented expenses incurred during May and would be collected through equal instalments to the end of the year,” Gooden said.
“If racing resumed on July 1, the amount would be $26 million representing the expenses incurred in May & June and collected through equal instalments to December 31.”
She explained that since racing resumed on June 20th, SVREL prorated the amounts for the actual race days and applied costs of $611,111.11 for each of the two race days in June.
“We also advised the stakeholders that a monthly recoverable of a little over $3.4 million will be applied for the remainder of the year,” she said.
The MOU, including the financial arrangements, was posted on the Caymanas Track website for public viewing.
SVREL had made several operational changes to ensure that racing could resume safely and without incident, under the guidance of a consultant engaged by the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission and the Jamaica Racing Commission.
The consultant assisted in the development of protocols that cover the entire operations of the track including entrances, the saddling barn and ring, the jockey room, stable areas and stands. Gooden said the implementation of a ticketing system is also part of crowd-control efforts to ensure that the track’s 1200 capacity is not exceeded on race days.
In a season-long duel that captivated racing enthusiasts, Raddesh 'Sneaky Fox' Roman emerged as the 2024 Jockeys’ Champion, as he edged rival Tevin Foster by a single win in a thrilling conclusion at Caymanas Park on Saturday.
Roman secured his maiden title with 133 winners, narrowly outlasting Foster, who registered 132 in what has been hailed as one of the most gripping championships in recent memory.
That six-race card marked the return of live racing after a one-week break, when horsemen opted not to nominate as a show of their discontent to a $27 million purse increase offer put forward by SVREL.
However, following a productive meeting and constant dialogue, both parties have reached a mutual agreement, paving the way for the resumption of full race cards, as TOBA encouraged its members to support nominations for the meet scheduled on Saturday, July 29, starting on Tuesday, July 25. This will be followed by an action-packed first week of August, featuring three race days in seven days, including the much-anticipated Jamaica Oaks and Jamaica Derby.
In a statement released on Sunday, July 23, TOBA said that having met with SVREL on Monday, July 17, following the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission's (BGLC) prior confirmation of the promoting company's 2022 sales figures of $5.32 billion on local racing, TOBA has agreed to continue working with SVREL and the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) to implement major initiatives towards negating the annual wrangling over prize monies.
In its statement, TOBA said it hoped that these initiatives, if successfully negotiated and implemented, including returning monies derived from the local-racing industry, will lead to a substantial and sustainable purse- money environment, as exists in other international racing jurisdictions, historically bringing Jamaica in line with North America, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, jurisdictions which all access and thrive on purses supplemented by other consistent income streams.
This positive development will not only attract horse owners but also boost the excitement and engagement of racing enthusiasts across the country.
The 44-year-old Bridgmohan, who won the 1998 Eclipse Award as the most outstanding apprentice in United States racing, is listed to ride the Philip Feanny-trained four-year-old Fearless One in Division One of the George HoSang Trophy feature on the nine-race card. The George HoSang Trophy races listed as races seven and eight over 5-1/2 furlongs (1,100m).
Bridgmohan, who migrated to the United States at age 13 from Spanish Town, first worked in Florida as a hot-walker, groom and exercise rider before starting his riding career on graduating from high school, earning his first win at Calder Race Course in August 1997.
He has twice won six races on a card in North America, first at Aqueduct in 1998 and again in 2007 at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, in his fairly decorated career.
In fact, it was during his breakout season in that he first won six races at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York, finishing that year as the winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.
The second Jamaican to ride in the Kentucky Derby in 2006, Bridgmohan created history in the event in 2014 alongside his countryman, Rajiv Maragh, finishing second and fourth, aboard Commanding Curve and Wicked Strong, respectively. Richard Depass was the first Jamaican to ride in the derby.
Aiming to add another feather to his impressive résumé of more than 3000 victories in the United States, where he twice finished 17th in national earnings, Bridgmohan's presence will certainly delight fans as he graces Caymanas Park with his riding prowess.
Bridgmohan will also be a guest speaker at a Jamaica Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation (JTHF) fundraiser set for Jamaica Officers’ Club, Up Park Camp, on Monday, February 5.
In a bold move to further solidify its support for Jamaican sports, TruShake has renewed its partnership with Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) for an additional two years.
Robert Halledeen is a man on a mission. After a stellar 2024 season, the talented rider has his sights set on even greater heights this year, with the ultimate goal being to clinch the Jockeys' Championship at Caymanas Park.
DaCosta, who reports said, was infected by the Covid-19 virus was in intensive care battling complications related to Covid-19 infection.
A mainstay in Jamaica’s racing industry for more than four decades, DaCosta won the trainers' title 18 times, the most by any trainer in the country.
He won the Triple Crown twice times with War Zone in 1996 and She's A Maneater in 2017. He also won the Diamond Mile at Caymanas Park four times, twice with Seeking My Dream and twice with She’s A Maneater.
