When former champion jockey Brian Harding turned down the opportunity to leave T&T to ride in the International Jockey's Challenge at the La Riconada Racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, it was a clear indication that he wanted to be the leading rider, today at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. Harding has the choice rides on the two favourites for the co-feature St Ann's Stakes and the St James Stakes over 1,350 metres on the second day of the Christmas Meeting. The Jamaican bred Oriental Appeal and Lawbreaker look unbeatable in the St Ann's and St James Stakes, respectively and both will be partnered by Harding, who will have a little more than an armchair ride in both events. The two-year-olds will race for a first prize cheque of $90,000 in the both Grade Two events.
In the St James Stakes, there are only two winners in the John O'Brien trained, Lawbreaker and the William Clarke trained, Frankenstein in ten-horse field. In the St Ann's Stakes, the Douglas Bennett trained Oriental Appeal has scared away the opposition and will face only seven rivals, of which none is a winner. The Glenn Mendez trained Cactus Amour will have his final 'prep' before the Gold Cup when he goes to post for the Stakes and Lower Handicap over 1,800 metres. Cactus Amour has the welter-burden of 59.5 kilos and will be ridden by Freddy Manrrique. He will have to hand out ten kilos to the in-form Montejo which will be partnered by Ricky Jadoo. This could be his undoing. There will be no turf racing today, all races will be run on the main track. Post time for the first race today is 11.15 am.
ARC DAY 43 ENTRIES
R1: 11.15AM – OPTIONAL CLAIMING $7,500 - $6,500
WI 4 YO & Over Maidens;WI 5 YO n/w 3;WI 6 YO & Over n/w 4; – 1600M (Turf) – $20,000 ?
523 1 Bird King R Hasranah/B Harding 54.5 Winner
354 2 Wild Life J Mosca/R Singh 49.5 Running on
086 3 Cat Dancer E Miller/N Patrick 45.5 Speedy
330 4 Powerball W Clarke/C Jadoo 55.5 Scratched
527 5 Piarco M Carew(Jnr)/S Chadee 54.5 Chance
605 6 My Darling Doc C Rodriguez/L Guanipa 56.5 Tough
633 7 Angelica Jane H Chadee/C Oliveros 51.5 Ready
007 8 Nad Al Sheba M Carew(Jnr)/L Keizer 46.5 In and out
676 9 Shannon M L Alexis/J Stephen 51.5 Outsider
R2: 11.52 PM– T & T BRED CONDITIONAL HANDICAP 'E'
T&T 4 YO n/w 2;T&T 5 YO n/w 4;T&T 6 YO & Over n/w 5 – 1200M–$24,000 ?
586 1 Style And Attitude J Mosca/F Manrrique 54.5 Chance
458 2 Playin The Storm T Thomas/S Rodrigo 52.5 No form
680 3 Devil's Mark H Gobin/L Keizer 46.5 Outside shot
210 4 Burning Wells H Chadee/R Jadoo 55.0 In tough
323 5 Western Wish H Gobin/Y Cristalino 54.5 Ready
516 6 Prince Lara L Alexis/V Charles 56.5 Can win this
437 7 Razmin H Gobin/K Balgobin 55.5 Outsider
091 8 Bullet Banker C Roberts/N Samaroo 56.0 Repeat
R3: 12.32 PM – WI BRED 3 YO MAIDENS – 1350M –$30,000 ?
-08 1 Crossfire K DeFreitas/J Stephen 50.5 In tough
476 2 Mr Firewire H Gobin/S Rodrigo 52.5 Chance
809 3 Varsity Blues H Chadee/R Jadoo 46.5 On upgrade
405 4 Unbridled Way Dr R Shim/D Gaff 53.5 Ready
797 5 I Love You Honey H Gobin/F Manrrique 50.5 Chance
580 6 Zipitup W Debysingh/L Keizer 50.5 No form
--3 7 Postman J O'Brien/N Abrego 56.5 One to beat
643 8 Unzipit F DeFreitas/J Arneaud 54.5 Chance
556 9 Explorer J Mosca/R Rajkumar 48.5 Scratched
-75 10 Optimistic Wishes M Carew (Jnr)/S Chadee 50.5 Outsider
433 11 Mirror Image J O'Brien/N Mohammed 54.5 Will go close
R4: 1.09 PM – RESTRICTED HANDICAP WI 3 YO & OVER & IMP 2 YO & OVER – 1350M –$35,000 ?
597 1 Roman Anthem M Carew(Jnr)/L Keizer 49.5 Speedy
380 2 Sara's Music H Gobin/R Rajkumar 46.5 Nothing
370 3 Rachaels Way G Mendez/L Guanipa 46.5 Lost way
448 4 Fresh Prospect JW-Samaroo/N Patrick 52.5 In tough
342 5 High Mas G Mendez/F Manrrique 53.5 Ready to win
141 6 Santa Rosa Boy M Carew(Jnr)/S Chadee 55.5 Repeat
238 7 Wispy Cut G Mendez/R Jadoo 51.5 Scratched
365 8 Jay Mike P DeFreitas/J Arneaud 56.5 Can surprise?
R5: 1.54 PM – OPTIONAL CLAIMING $15,000 - $13,000
WI 4 YO n/w 3;WI 5 YO n/w 5;WI 6 YO & over n/w 6 –1100M (Turf) – $28,000?
058 1 Xposed C Roberts/J Stephen 55.5 Scratched
124 2 Trust N Confidence W Clarke/C Jadoo 54.5 Speedy
357 3 Port of New York H Gobin/D Gopie 55.5 Chance
423 4 Majestic Gold (TO) L Alexis/B Harding 56.5 Scratched
412 5 Traditional Man H Chadee/C Oliveros 51.0 Good heart
525 6 Bullion Babe J O'Brien/N Mohammed 54.5 Ready
712 7 Forward Tracking M Carew(Jnr)/S Chadee 54.5 Chance
168 8 Coolo Breezo (MO J Mosca/Rodrigo 51.5 In and out
517 9 Aintmisbehaving(TO) W Debysingh/J Arneaud 56.5 Scratched
221 10 Naturelly Classy (MO) L Alexis/K Balgobin 51.5 Repeat
643 11 X-Rated (TO) M Glasgow/S Singh 53.5 Scratched
536 12 Ace of Spades (MO) T Thomas/G Laban 56.5 In tough
909 13 Mupika (R1) M Glasgow/L Keizer 42.0 Nothing
757 14 Columbia E MillerN Patrick 54.5 Don't trust
087 15 Check In The Mail J Mosca/R Jadoo 56.5 Outside shot
311 16 Juanistheman (TO) W Clarke/C Jadoo 53.5 Scratched
R6: 2.24 PM– STAKES & LOWER HANDICAP – 1800M –$70,000 ?
222 1 Sound of Thunder W Clarke/N Mohammed 51.5 Chance
435 2 Straight Ahead D Mosca/R Perez 53.5 No form
515 3 Windjammer J O'Brien/N Patrick 49.5 Outside shot
615 4 Perfect Circle G Mendez/L Guanipa 46,5 Scratched
112 5 Cactus Amour G Mendez/F Manrrique 59.5 The Class
111 6 Montejo JW-Samaroo/R Jadoo 49.5 Well weighted
878 7 Takemeshakeme J Lyder/C Oliveros 44.0 Wrong race �
R7: 3.04 PM– ST JAMES STAKES (GR. II) WI 2 YO COLTS & GELDINGS –1350M –$150,000?
--- 1 Galveston D Mosca/R Rajkumar 55.0 Debut
--1 2 Frankestein W Clarke/N Mohammed 55.0 Will go close
--0 3 Mambo Cat E Miller/KBalgobin 55.0 Must improve
-22 4 D Girlz Dem Sugar G Mendez/C Jadoo 55.0 Ready
--6 5 Alexander J O'Brien/N Abrego 55.0 Can surprise
--- 6 Carnival King J Lyder/N Patrick 55.0 Highly regarded
--- 7 Loan Shark D Bennett/R Jadoo 55.0 Don't trust
--1 8 Lawbreaker J O'Brien/B Harding 55.0 The winner
--- 9 Ring The Bell M Carew (Jnr)/S Chadee 55.0 Chance
-65 10 First Emperor D Mosca/R Perez 55.0 Improving
R8: 3.42 PM – OPTIONAL CLAIMING $25,000 - $21,000
WI 3 YO n/w 3;WI 4 YO n/w 5;WI 5 YO & Over n/w 6;Imp. 4 YO & Over Maidens; –1200M – $32,000 ?
471 1 Truculent W Clarke/C Jadoo 49.0 Repeat
955 2 Hesuntouchabull M Glasgow/R Freeman 51.5 Chance
253 3 Will Power J O'Brien/B Harding 55.0 One to beat
750 4 Actin Time D Mosca/L Guanipa 51.0 No form
145 5 Chief's Nephew C Roberts/N Patrick 56.5 Respected
613 6 Kingmaker D Bennett/R Rajkumar 55.0 Speedy
152 7 Nakita C Roberts/N Mohammed 53.0 Good form
416 8 Damage Control H Gobin/K Balgobin 56.5 Chance
121 9 Make Your Move H Gobin/R Jadoo 56.5 Repeat
R9: 4.20 PM –? ST ANN'S STAKES (GR. II) WI 2 YO FILLIES – 1350M –$150,000
--- 1 Big Mama R Hasranah/S Chadee 55.0 Debut
-52 2 Red Hot Wheels C Roberts/N Mohammed 55.0 Chance
--- 3 Tyler's Gold D Mosca/R Perez 55.0 First-timer
377 4 Out 'N' About D Bennett/R Jadoo 55.0 Must improve
-44 5 Captain Crook D Mosca/L Guanipa 55.0 Outsider
-93 6 Eight Avenue E Miller/N Patrick 55.0 In tough
--1 7 Oriental Appeal D Bennett/B Harding 55.0 The winner
--3 8 Oro De Cordoba J O'Brien/N Abrego 55.0 Place chance
R10: 5 PM – OPTIONAL CLAIMING $20,000 - $17,000
WI 3 YO n/w 2;WI 4 YO n/w 4;WI 5 YO n/w 6;WI 6 YO & Over n/w 6 – 1750M –$30,000
217 1 Glory Daze J O'Brien/R Jadoo 53.5 Can surprise
402 2 Gold Bead W Clarke/N Mohammed 53.5 Running on
326 3 Bravo C Roberts/N Abrego 54.5 Will be around
451 4 Nature's Reality H Gobin/K Balgobin 51.5 Repeat
566 5 Indian King G Mendez/C Jadoo 53.5 One to beat
292 6 Super Grey L Alexis/B Harding 51.5 Respected
854 7 Chief Crazy Horse T Thomas/S Rodrigo 53.5 Ready
359 8 A Clean Sweep K DeFreitas/C Oliveros 54.5 In tough
876 9 Regional Princess E Miller/N Patrick 51.5 Outside shot
832 10 Kickupastorm Dr R Shim/N Patrick 51.5 Must go close
