On a thrilling Saturday of thoroughbred racing at Caymanas Park, jockey Raddesh Roman delivered one of the weekend’s most memorable displays of tactical racing, steering Blue Vinyl to a dramatic last-gasp win in the $1.25-million Liu Chie Poo Trophy that denied a late charge from runner-up Supremasi.
Trained by veteran horseman Gary Subratie, Blue Vinyl adopted a patient, come-from-behind strategy from the opening bell. While Evertte Clunis’ mount Sheer Delight set a steady early pace up front, with Supremasi — ridden by Tajay Suckoo — hot on the leader’s heels, Blue Vinyl sat comfortably off the pace down the backstretch, conserving energy for the final stretch push. Roman expertly navigated the half-mile turn, hugging the inner rail to save valuable ground before threading Blue Vinyl through a narrow gap along the fence deep in the final stretch.
With just 50 meters left in the 1-mile (1,600-meter) Overnight Allowance contest, Supremasi looked poised to cross the finish line first. But Blue Vinyl’s late burst, paired with Roman’s perfectly timed ride, changed the outcome in the final strides. The five-year-old runner pulled ahead by a head at the line, stopping the clock at a final time of 1:37.3, with split times of 23.4 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.1 for the half, 1:11.2 for six furlongs, and 1:24.2 for seven furlongs. Intrestntimesahead rounded out the top three finishers.
The Liu Chie Poo Trophy win marked Roman’s second victory of the race day. Earlier in the card, he secured the $820,000 Valbert Marlowe Memorial Cup, a 9-furlong (1,800-meter) contest, aboard Diesel Train, a trainee of conditioner Peter-John Parsard.
The standout performance of the day, however, belonged to four-time defending champion trainer Jason DaCosta, who once again proved his dominance on the Jamaican racing circuit by notching four wins across the 10-race program. DaCosta’s winning streak on the day began with Novio, ridden by Tevin Foster, in the second contest. He followed that up with back-to-back wins: Formalist, with Robert Halledeen in the irons, took the sixth race, and Chocomo — also ridden by Halledeen — crossed first in the seventh. DaCosta closed out the day with a win in the 10th and final race, with Maverick and jockey Aaron Chatrie securing the victory.
Live thoroughbred racing will return to Caymanas Park next Saturday for another card of competitive racing.