Maneater to scupper Bigdaddykool victory plans

NOT even the 11lb she will give up in this afternoon’s fifth race should stop SHE’S A MANEATER from flogging BIGDADDYKOOL at seven and a half furlongs. However, much railbird excitement surrounds the circumstances under which the duo renews rivalry.

Lewisito DaCosta, who was SHE’S A MANEATER’s groom before she set even foot on the exercise track as a two-year-old, right through her Triple Crown, Diamond Mile and back-to-back Superstakes glory, has been the man in BIGDADDYKOOL’s corner after being axed by Wayne DaCosta late last month.

Under Lewisito’s care, BIGDADDYKOOL romped the nine-furlong Viceroy Trophy on June 30, chasing and beating stablemate HOUDINI’S MAGIC, only that no Wayne DaCosta horse participated in the event.

A week later, with no Nunes horse around, SHE’S A MANEATER merely raced the clock from a half-mile out in the rescheduled six-furlong None Such Trophy.

Railbirds have sworn that the first meeting of Lewisito DaCosta-groomed BIGDADDYKOOL and SHE’S A MANEATER will somehow be different from previous battles. The only difference this time around is that Lewisito will be on the losing side.

BIGDADDYKOOL has only finished ahead of SHE’S A MANEATER twice: when she went to her knees at the start of last year’s Viceroy Trophy and when he won the nine-furlong and 25-yard Miracle Man Trophy, which was her twenty-fourth and a half furlong in six and a half weeks, yet she only lost by three-quarter length, allowing him six pounds.

Throughout most of her career, starting with her first Superstakes win in 2017, five-year-old SHE’S A MANEATER has been BIGDADDYKOOL’s spoiler and a thorn in Nunes’ skin, primarily ­responsible for denying him at least two trainers’ championships.

She won’t be able to stop him this year with DaCosta trailing Nunes by $17 million. However, she’s still BIGDADDY’s ‘mama’.