DaCosta with ‘Reckless’ abandon over five furlongs
Published:Friday | December 6, 2019 | 12:18 AMAinsley Walters/Gleaner Writer
WAYNE DaCosta calling in two-kilo claiming apprentice Raddesh Roman to partner SERGEANT RECKLESS at 109lb shows exactly where his sentiments rest, with two starters in this afternoon’s five-furlong straight overnight allowance sprint, his other runner being United States-bred AMERICAN INVADER with Omar Walker astride, riding at possibly 116lb, unable to make the required 115lb.
Having shown vast improvement since acquired from Philip Feanny, SERGEANT RECKLESS prompted the pace of her last three races but was always fodder for run-on horses such as BRUCE WAYNE when going six and a half furlongs last Saturday.
Brought back rather quickly by DaCosta in his bid to help reduce a $5.1 million deficit behind leader Anthony Nunes, SERGEANT RECKLESS gets an ideal distance and can’t complain about stall eight in a 10-horse field.
SERGEANT RECKLESS’ last race at five furlongs straight, carrying the exact weight she will shoulder in the ninth event at the distance, far better drawn on this occasion, suggests that she will be a tough horse to beat, but Roman still has to keep an eye on oldtsager CAMPESINO, who has a 10-lb swing to his advantage in the overnight allowance event.
Terribly drawn at post-position on September 25, four-year-old SERGEANT RECKLESS ran her heart out against ultra-consistent RAS EMANUEL, forcing Omar Walker to pull out all the stops aboard the seven-year-old horse, who was down in class from open allowance after placing third behind upsetter ZEPHYR and ANOTHER VIGOROUS at five and a half furlongs.
SERGEANT RECKLESS, carrying 109lb, was beaten by a short head in a lightning-fast 58.0, a full second quicker than the 59.0 PEKING CRUZ had posted to land division one.
CAMPESINO, now drawn next to SERGEANT RECKLESS, had also featured prominently on Saturday, sitting in the pace down the backstretch and into the lane, but couldn’t match the filly, who disputed the lead with GRAYDON before DUNROBIN shot through three furlongs out.
Meanwhile, Nunes, who won two races on Saturday to buffer DaCosta’s take from the SHE’S A MANEATER-STRANGER DANGER grade one walkover, has three runners in the line-up, including injury-plagued PATRIARCH, who hasn’t raced since finishing last in August behind ZEPHYR, ANOTHER VIGOROUS, and RAS EMANUEL.
Nunes has groping-for-form CORAZON breaking from the dreaded one hole whereas his third runner, dangerous PRINCE CHARLES, is fresh off back-to-back victories but might find the quicker horses on the stands’ side long gone by the time he settles into stride.