Thousands were on hand to witness a grand day of horse racing when the Port Mourant Turf club (PMTC) successfully staged its grand one-day Emancipation Horse Race meet last Sunday at Corentyne, Berbice.
Seven races were held with ‘Tropical Passion’ owned by Steve Mothoo of the Rumours racing stable upstaging the field to record its second win in the feature B class event for the year and take the $300,000 first prize and the Alim Shaw General Store trophy that were at stake in the one-mile event.
Six horses faced the starter and ‘Laura Lee in Flight’ known for its sprinting prowess started like a gunshot with ‘Miss Republic’ and ‘Irish Gel’ hot on its heels with the others trying to catch up.
The battle continued along the back stretch into the far turn as the horses set a blistering pace with Irish Gel mounted by Sukhoo leading the pack.
As they hit the straights for home it was then that Tropical Passion ridden by Prem Chandra decided to tear up the track as it showed its opponents a clean pair of heals to win convincingly.
‘Irish Gel’ came home second as ‘Miss Republic’ had to be content with third as ‘Laura Lee in Flight’ flew in fourth.
The three-year-old event saw the most convincing victory for the day when ‘La Bayamosa’ of the Jagdeo stables showed that its lengthy layoff from the track did not dull its star quality.
Mounted by Krishna Singh, it unleashed a blistering finish with a devastating sprint down the homestretch to win by about eight lengths, taking the $220,000 first prize, compliments of the organizers, as well as the Arjune Poultry Supplies trophy.
The next three positions were occupied by ‘Prixie Fire’, ‘Royal Champion’ and ‘Zip A Dee Do Dah’.
‘Peaceful’ mounted by Paul Delph of the Colin Elcock stable made sure there was no rest for its opponents in the two-year-old open 1,100M event for Guyana and West Indies bred horses.
He ran away to win in convincing fashion and carried the $180,000 prize ahead of ‘Gems Pride’, ‘Celebration Time’ and ‘Stormy Water’.
Meanwhile, the event was not without its fair share of controversy as ‘Celebration Time’ of the Elcock stable ridden by Krishna Singh was badly bumped into the rail by ‘Stormy Water’ ridden by Dave Ross and suffered serious injuries to its right leg.
According to veterinary surgeon Dr. Dwight Walrond, some pieces of wood were removed from the animal and it will be out of racing for the next three months.
The PMTC subsequently fined the jockey $10,000 and the Guyana Horse Racing Authority will also be looking into the incident and will make a pronouncement shortly.
The F class 1,200M sprint saw the ‘Gap’ of the Customs racing stable with jockey Daniel Floris on the perch living up to its name as it won from gate to pole. ‘Pinch D Cash’, ‘Luv U D’ and ‘Face the Music’ could not withstand the pressure and settled for the smaller portion of the prize. The win was worth $180,000.
‘Miami Vice’ with Appadu in the saddle strangled its opponents to win the ‘I’ and lower $120,000 first prize ahead of ‘Clear Victory’, ‘Casino Royal’ and ‘Brown Boy’ over 1,400M.
‘Power Master’ of the Debideen stables was too strong for its opponents in winning the J,K and L class race and the $100,000 on offer.
‘Fantastic Light’ shone brightly ahead of ‘Lightning Mc Queen’, ‘Beyonce’ and ‘Miss Kimberly’ in the race for I’ 3 maiden three-year-old horses as it won the $100,000 winner’s money in the 1,000M sprint.
Over $3M was on offer during the day’s contest with 60 horses taking part. Kumar Singh was adjudged the Champion Jockey with Daniel Floris the runner-up.
They all received trophies, compliments of Ramesh Sunich of the Trophy Stall, Bourda Market.
The two top jockeys were also recipients of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively, compliments of the organisers.
The next race is the annual Guyana Cup which is fixed for August 16 at the Rising Sun Turf Club, while the Kennard Memorial Turf Club meet is set for August 30.