Golden Blue Echo capped a brilliant season on Boxing Day at the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club (KMTC) by adding another victory to its resume.
The winner of the Phagwah Race Meet in March and the Nand Persaud Sprint Classics in October won by about eight lengths in the feature D and Lower 1800-metre event of the KMTC Boxing Day fixture to end 2016 on a high.
For Golden Blue Echo and jockey Colin Ross, this year and the race unravelled in an almost faultless manner.
Ross jumped the E.Walton trained steed smart out of the gates, positioning him ahead of the seven-horse field on the muddy track.
There he stayed even though jockey, Michael Semple on Lady Budapest made a bold move on the third turn, sweeping up Keep On Swinging in the process.
As the three front runners entered the home stretch to a loud roar of the thousands of turfites, it looked as though the race would be a dead heat.
But under a strong Ross drive, the brown gelding was given full rein on the homestretch and used its superior finishing speed to pull away from the rest of the cavalry bettering a tireless Lady Budapest who galloped to a second place finish.
Keep on Swinging placed third while a late surge by Brave Sky earned its handlers the fourth place purse.
For the win, Golden Blue Echo which was imported from Canada earlier this year, gifted the Nand Persaud Racing Stables the $1.2M first prize and the champions’ trophy. Not bad for two minutes of work, two minutes and six seconds to be exact.
Prior to the feature event, there were five races. Here is a summary of them:
Race 1- L (Non-Winners)
The Rocket ($130,000)
Easy Lion
Blue Lightening
Royal Progressive
Race 2- E & Lower
Release De Beast ($500,000)
Golden Blue Echo
Brave Sky
Wichie Poo
Race 3- W.Indian Bred Maiden
Amazon Warrior ($130,000)
Replace De Heat
Blondie
Confusion
Race 4- Two-Year Old Guyana & W.Indian Bred
Genuine Risk ($220,000)
Miss Angalie
Princess Saria
Mischievous Maker
Race 5- G & Lower
Settling Star ($280,000)
It’s My Turn
Fire In Line
Isn’t She Charming
As customary, the KMTC Boxing Day meet brought the curtain down on the current calendar of horse racing activities for the year.
The 2017 season for the ‘Sport of Kings’ starts on January 29 at the Rising Sun Turf Club with an eight-race card. (Emmerson Campbell)
