Fri | Nov 15, 2024

Boy Wonder for season’s finale

Published:Friday | December 26, 2014 | 12:05 PMOrville Clarke
Jermaine Barnaby
Jermaine Barnaby/Photographer Veteranian Dr. Clifford Bradford (left) presents the Paul Newman Memorial Trophy to Michael Marloe, while assistant trainer Kibbeisha Likkle looks on after MERU, with Jockey Orlando Foster, won the event at Caymanas Park on Saturday, December 20.

The curtain comes down on another challenging year of racing at Caymanas Park today, the 10-race programme featuring two trophy events confined to two-year-olds.

These are the 21st running of the Sweet Ruckus Trophy over 1400 metres for native and imported two-year-olds for a purse of $860,000 and the round five Stewards' Cup for native breds.

With the unbeaten SUPERIOR QUALITY a standout for jockey Omar Walker and trainer Ian Parsard in the Sweet Ruckus Trophy in which six have been declared and Wayne DaCosta's SUPERTRONICS (Robert Halledeen) having shown enough in three previous races to be given the nod in the Stewards' Cup, a more interesting race on the card is the ninth for open allowance horses over 1400 metres.

Among the seven starters is the progressive three-year-old colt BOY WONDER, to be ridden by Walker for Parsard.

Having won his last three races in fast times in recent weeks, BOY WONDER steps up in class on the convenient mark of 52.3kg today. And although facing his sternest test to date from horses such as the Superstakes runners-up UNCLE TAF and topweight CAMPENSINO, the son of Traditional-Jamaican Dream has moved so impressively at exercise in preparation for this race that he looks hard to oppose.

BOY WONDER galloped six furlongs in a brisk 1:12.0 (bullet work) last Sunday morning and remembering his fast 1.18.0 over 1300 metres on November 8, should prove too strong for the Solomon Sharpe-trained UNCLE TAF, who followed up his good second to TYPEWRITER in the Superstakes with an easy win in the Owners' Association Trophy race over 2000 metres on November 29.

I am expecting BOY WONDER to chase the speedy imported colt FORTUNEONEHUNDRED and CAMPESINO in the backstretch, before taking command early in the straight to close out the season in fine style.

Other firm fancies on the card are down-in-class horses JACK DE CHARMER and ST. BERNARD - both owned by champion owner aspirant Carlton Watson - to win the second and fourth races, respectively, ZEUS in the sixth and Lee Clarke's SEMPER FIDELIS (Walker up) to catch the speedy ZARIAHRICHIEDIAMOND in the eight race over the round five course.