It was dubbed a ‘Day at the Races’ and the event truly lived up to its name with some exciting finishes as the Kennard Memorial Turf Club held its Demerara Distillers Limited El Dorado Day at the Races on Boxing Day.
From the first race to the last, it was non-stop action as racing fans got their monies worth and even the betting pundits went away with their pockets filled.
In one of the three feature races for the day, the three-year-old horses provided lots of excitement in a tight fight between race favourite, Little Pannie, and the outsider, Fresh Prospect, over a distance of six furlongs.
Little Pannie, ridden by Daniel Florist, who was later adjudged champion jockey, surged ahead of the field with Fresh Prospect making up the tail behind Sir Balaji and Prospective Pride in that order.
However, jockey Paul Delph called on his charge to give it his all and got a wonderful response as Fresh Prospect began making up ground just before the turn for home.
By the turn, it was a two- horse race between Little Pannie and Fresh Prospect as a head-to-head clash materialized.
Delph rode his stallion like a man possessed passing his opponent with just under 150 metres to go to triumph by one-and-a-half length much to the dismay of the fans.
The win was worth $175,000.00 and the El Dorado trophy. The race ended not without some controversy which resulted in both Delph and Florist being fined for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
In the other feature event of the day which carried a first prize of $200,000.00, Sequin, riding out of the Jumbo Jet stables, took the first prize away from race favourite Trini to the Bone who once again got a late start but still managed to finish strongly and claim the second prize ahead of Spin and Squeeze and Stop on the Line respectively.
Other action saw stable mates. The Gap and Sasha outsprinting their rivals including Showing Up (who had defeated them in the last meeting held at the same venue) to win by five lengths sweep the first and second place prizes much to the delight of owner Bhena Naljit in race number two. From the word go, both horses made a dash for the front where they maintained and eventually increased the lead, making it a two-horse race for home with The Gap winning by half-of-a-length over his stable mate.
Baby Boy set the stage for an exciting day with a comprehensive win over his more illustrious and senior opponents in the first race of the day. Ridden by jockey Drepaul Yhap, who displayed maturity on his charge, Baby Boy completed a six-horse length victory over another race favourite Perfect Drift who was followed by Lenny’s ‘O’ Halo and Kavinci in that order.
El Gato was also a clear winner over Shue Shemi and Perfect Drift respectively in race number four, whilst Zebra, who has never finished within the top three of any race he has entered, came to the fray with a sudden burst of energy to come out on top in race number five.
He had to fight his way from the back of the pack in a nine-horse event over a distance of six furlongs to come out victorious over Cash Run and Mona Lisa respectively.
The final race of the seven -race card programme was a two-horse affair between eventual winner Social Jet and Sacrifice. Sacrifice was badly managed, as his jockey sent him to front early approaching the first turn in the one mile event.
On the back stretch, he showed signs of tiring and this was when Social Jet turned on his turbo and surged past his opponent approaching the final turn a clear winner. He maintained his lead of over four horse lengths for a comfortable win.
Daniel Florist was adjudged champion jockey and received a trophy compliments of the Trophy Stall from Bourda Market, whilst the top trainer award went to G. Sooklall.
