CHESTER, West Virginia – St Croix-born jockey Ajhari Williams collected a double for the second time this season on Wednesday’s eight-race, mid-week card at the Mountaineer racetrack in the United States.
The 27-year-old now has 17 wins for the season, which opened on April 30 this year, and he is 11th in the jockeys’ standings, a long way behind leader Charle Oliveros, who holds a one-win lead on Luis Alberto Batista.
Williams set the tone for the day’s racing when he steered the 5-1 chance Magna Cat to a 2-1/4 lengths win in the US $16 500 maiden special weight first race over 1 100 metres on the dirt.
He put Magna Cat to stalk the pace before the two-year-old, bay filly looked as a serious threat on the outside near the middle of the track and ran past Baytown Angel, under Batista, in the closing yards to clock one minute, 06.09 seconds.
Williams completed his double when he guided the 4-1 chance Altmeister to a half-length win in the US $18 800 allowance penultimate race over six furlongs on the dirt.
Altmeister veered out leaving the gate, but Williams soon got the five-year-old, bay gelding under control and took an early lead, which his mount held onto and defied late pressure in the stretch to finish in 1 min, 11.31 secs.
CMC
