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.
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.
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.
