With the second leg of the Triple Crown less than four weeks away (August 1), this is a good time for us to review the quality of the 2019 three-year-old crop which is dominated by Jamaican-bred animals. But unlike prior years, there is no obvious leader among the group and even more markedly, the overall quality of the classic generation seems a notch below prior years.
The undisputed leader of the generation should be the Guineas winner Regal Intension and up until July 13th, this colt was unbeaten although he has not appeared overly impressive in any of his victories though his connections continue to talk a very good game. The colt had won five races in a row, climbing to a rating of 76. His most impressive victory came against the 60-45 class when he won by six lengths. His win in the Guineas, although hailed by his trainer and a few racing pundits, appeared a laboured effort to many racing enthusiasts. The disappointing appearance of that race was confirmed on July 13th when he was comprehensively outpointed by Guineas runner-up Apocalypse over the identical distance. Connections reached for a first-time use of a tongue tie between the two races indicative that something was not quite the same with the colt. After the event, his trainer appeared to have attributed the defeat to a poor ride by the current Jockey Championship leader Brian Boodramsingh but that was not evident to the neutral onlooker.
Apocalypse (with a rating of 70) had been well beaten in his Guineas prep behind various older horses and while he is entitled to improve, more evidence will be required to confirm that was the case. In his prior starts, he had also appeared one-paced and there were also doubts over his true staying prowess. With his last two starts, it is either those doubts have been put to rest or the quality of the opposition has been fairly weak. We will certainly know more when he comes up against stronger opposition. Streaking Far was behind the two three-year-olds on the 13th but she has become fairly slow in her distance races, so is not a good guide as to the progress the colts have made or lack thereof.
The other Jamaican-bred runner expected to rise to the top of the generation was the champion two-year-old Filly She’s So Spectacula (64). This filly has been a bit in and out in her three-year-old season, with wins on either side of two heavy defeats. She was very disappointing in the Guineas when only third as the strong favourite and did not impress anyone when winning the Oaks over the ill-fated Mon Cheri in a pedestrian time. She has not moved forward from her three-year-old season and connections must be weighing up the possibility of bringing their champion three-year-old colt in Jamaica, Seeking the Soul, across to this country after he has completed his Triple Crown run.
A potential improver among the Jamaican-bred is the recent recruit to the local scene, Juice Man (62). This colt’s form in Jamaica was unspectacular but he either took a significant step forward when winning impressively on his debut in this country over 1,750 metres, or the quality of the competition here is well below that in Jamaica. More evidence is required before a firm verdict can be made.
The highest-rated three-year-old, however, is the locally bred Early Bird (77). This colt has been competing in distances up to 1,350 metres with some of the better animals with ratings up to 80 to date. He was most recently a good third behind the highly-rated American-bred four-year-old Spoke in Yuh Wheel. This colt will continue to fly the flag for locally bred. Also flying the flag for the locally bred are Making Headlines (70), Signal Note (52) and News Flash (48). These three colts are offsprings of two horses that shone on the local scene, Headline News and Signal Alert. The performance of their other offsprings will speak volumes in years to come. Making Headlines opened his 2019 season with a hattrick of impressive victories, looking potentially the best three-year-old bred in Trinidad or Jamaica, but he was very disappointing in the Guineas when beaten into the fifth place of the six runners and it is hoped that something came to light to explain that disappointing performance. His next start is eagerly awaited. His co-sired News Flash has only started three times this season but has shown enough to suggest that he could have a say in the distance classics. He has finished powerfully in most of his starts although he is only a winner of his maiden. He just failed to catch the speedy Signal Note when these two met on July 13th over 1,300 metres but that one has run up his hattrick over maidens and then twice over the 45-30 class. His running style and breeding would suggest he is not likely to be a classic contender but his progress through the rating bands will be closely monitored.
Outside of these eight runners, none of the other three-year-olds seen to date has impressed as horses of quality or potential quality. Jamaican-bred Blue Navigator and Trader John appear fully exposed at the moment while unfortunately, the very promising Riverine is no longer with us. Meanwhile, the lightly raced Knights Bloodstock Racing-owned La Reine is one to keep an eye on. This filly just brokered her maiden in her fourth start and appears inclined to longer distances and could be anything in the future. Time will tell whether there are any General JNs or Cape Canaverals among the bunch, but it looks unlikely at this time.