Ramsammy breaks drought at Woodbine with double

TORONTO, Canada,  CMC – Veteran Trinidadian jockey Emile Ramsammy scored his first wins of the near two-month old Woodbine season on Sunday, to snatch a share of the headlines on the 10-race programme.

Ramsammy, who turns 50 this year, captured the CAN$70 300 race one with Hank’s Hill before returning to win the $67 100 race four with English Sunrise.

The former champion jockey, now in the twilight of his career, has had 34 rides this season but has been unplaced in most of them.

Emile Ramsammy

On Sunday, he opened his account over seven furlongs with 12-1 bet Hank’s Hill, beating the three-year-olds and upward by two lengths.

Ramsammy raced the four-year-old gelding mid-pack before rallying in the stretch to overtake the leader and favourite Vino Del Toro, ridden by Barbadian Patrick Husbands, to reach the finish strongly.

In race four over 1-1/16th miles, 16-1 outsider English Sunrise challenged for the lead from early, battling with Lateegra to post fractions of 24.54 seconds and 48.52 for the half-mile.

Ramsammy, however, got the three-year-old chestnut gelding clear heading into the stretch and kept him focussed to win by 1-1/4 lengths.