Starting the day on 99 wins, jockey Raddesh Roman would have been brimming with confidence that his 100th career win would come on Saturday's 10-race card at Caymanas Park, and so it did, as he guided favourite Runaway Algo to an easy triumph in the She's A Maneater feature.
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.
LATEST STORIES
SVREL chairman calls for urgent reforms in stewarding after Heroes’ Day disruption at Caymanas Park
- 2024-10-24 15:42:31
- Hits 331
SVREL apologizes for disruption and cancellation of Heroes' Day Race Meet at Caymanas Park
- 2024-10-21 17:02:45
- Hits 326
iPrint joins forces with SVREL as Billboard Advertising Partner for Mouttet Mile 2024
- 2024-11-19 14:21:47
- Hits 176
Caymanas Park to celebrate retired horses with historic raceday
- 2024-11-22 19:36:06
- Hits 159
Zimi Entertainment teams up with Supreme Ventures to revolutionize the Mouttet Mile
- 2024-12-04 05:39:56
- Hits 157