On Monday, May 25, 2026, Jamaica’s Labour Day Trophy lived up to its reputation as a thrilling highlight of the local horseracing calendar, delivering a dominant performance that left spectators talking long after the finish line. Six-year-old dark bay racehorse Nautical Star, bred from sire Dixie Chatter and dam Kiss Me Chocolate (an Evansville Slew mare), secured a convincing 3-and-a-half-length win in the seven-furlong (1,400-meter) Overnight Allowance event, crossing the finish line in a solid time of 1:25.1, with split timings of 23.1 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.2 seconds for the half-mile, and 1:11.3 for six furlongs. What made the win even more notable, however, is that the team behind Nautical Street – jockey Raddesh “Sneaky Fox” Roman and trainer Anthony “Baba” Nunes – is far from satisfied with the result, insisting the talented runner has not yet reached his full racing peak.\n\nThe race unfolded in a textbook come-from-behind pattern for Nautical Star. The horse was not the quickest out of the starting gates, falling back to the middle of the 10-horse field as jockey Roman bided his time in the backstretch. American Aviator, ridden by Tevin Foster, set a blistering early pace, with Unruly Mo (Emelio McLean) and Supremasi (Omar Walker) holding second and third positions through the first half-mile. It was not until the turn into the final homestretch that Roman made his move, guiding Nautical Star up alongside Unruly Mo and Supremasi to close the gap on the leading American Aviator. Within seconds of straightening out for the final push, Nautical Star drew even with the pace-setter, then accelerated away from the entire field with apparent ease to claim the top spot.\n\nDespite the unchallenged margin of victory, Roman made it clear immediately after the race that he and Nunes see plenty of room for improvement. “Neither the trainer nor I were blown away by today’s performance,” Roman told reporters in the winners’ enclosure. “We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board with training and fine-tune his preparation to help him reach the peak we know he’s capable of.”\n\nRoman, who has partnered with Nautical Star for all three of his starts on Jamaican soil, has full confidence in the horse’s underlying talent. “My whole plan going in was to get him a clean break, settle him into a good position, and ask him to unleash his speed over the final three furlongs,” the jockey explained. “This is an incredibly gifted horse, and I truly believe he is one of the top Thoroughbreds currently racing in Jamaica. If he reaches his full potential, he won’t just beat fields like this – he’ll dominate them even more easily than he did today.”\n\nMonday’s win marked Nautical Star’s second victory from three outings since joining the local racing circuit, proving the horse is already a consistent top contender even when not running at 100 percent. In the final standings, American Aviator held on to take second place, while Mark My Identity, ridden by Dane Dawkins, rounded out the top three. The win cements Nautical Star’s status as one to watch in upcoming top-tier Jamaican racing events, as Roman and Nunes work to unlock the horse’s full power in future races.