King Arthur sneaks in to claim Eros Trophy

KING ARTHUR, the 2000 Jamaica Derby winner, yesterday benefited from a collapsing pace and 11lb weight advantage over a determined CALCULUS to score a half-length victory in the seven-furlong Eros Trophy for Open Allowance/Graded Stakes runners.

Running at 115lb, the exact weight which he used to score an upset win over DUKE at six furlongs in May, KING ARTHUR tracked the pace from fourth along the rail, moving as a team with CALCULUS, while speedy even-money favourite, RUNAWAY ALGO, led under pressure from EROY and afterwards I’VE GOT MAGIC.

Spunky RUNAWAY ALGO, tackling grade-one runners for the first, shook loose of I’VE GOT MAGIC coming off the home turn. However, a wound-up KING ARTHUR spurted forward along the rail inside the last half-furlong while CALCULUS launched his challenge in mid-track. KING ARTHUR got first run on the quick foreigner and repelled CALCULUS’ challenge, clocking 1:24.3 with champion jockey Anthony Thomas.

CALCULUS, carrying topweight 126lb, made a brave bid with Shane Ellis but the handicaps and distance were against the far-striding winner of last year’s Jamaica Derby.

KING ARTHUR handed leading trainer Jason DaCosta a second winner on the 10-race card following four-year-old JOHNCROW JEFF’s gate-to-wire return off a 13-month lay-up at four furlongs straight.

Just outside the frame in two classic prep races last season, JOHNCROW JEFF outclassed rivals, defying the track bias to go all the way with Jerome Innis from post-position two in an inferior 14-horse field.

Stunned punters

BALAZO’s 13-1 upset, making every post a winning one in the third event for $550,000 claimers at six furlongs, stunned punters going after the Ketch 9 Mandatory Payout, which had two tickets standing heading into the 10th and decisive event won by Alford Brown’s 3-1 chance, TRUE AL SKY with Dick Cardenas.

The Ketch 9 returned $256,990 to each winning ticket, leaving punters to immediately start pondering Monday’s whopping Reggae 6 Mandatory Payout, which will open the eight-race Emancipation Day holiday card with a $10.3 million carryover.

Ian Parsard, whose SHE’S A WONDER annihilated rivals at seven and a half furlongs in the eighth event for overnight-allowance runners, is expected to dominate Monday’s feature races with hot MAHOGANY in the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission Trophy at five and a half furlongs and down-in-class BERNING RED at six and a half in the Emancipation Day Trophy for $750,000 claimers.