分类： sports

Every race meet at Jamaica’s iconic Caymanas Park transforms the sprawling turf venue into a living stage, where split-second decisions and equine power produce a constant rotation of elation and disappointment. The roar of the crowd, the thunder of hooves down the homestretch, and the unpredictable turns of fortune are what keep racing fans coming back week after week, turning a simple day of competition into a collection of memorable stories that last long after the final finish line is crossed. No two race cards are ever the same, and this particular 10-race meet delivered a series of rare and joyful milestones no scriptwriter could have planned.

The first race of the day set the tone for an afternoon of breakthroughs. It was Life Is Life, a starter under jockey Dane Dawkins, who crossed the wire first for veteran trainer Gresford Smith. For Smith, the victory was far more than a notch on his season stats: entering the race, he had only entered five runners all year and had yet to secure a single win. This long-awaited breakthrough stood as a powerful testament to his persistence through a slow start to the season. Life Is Life delivered such a dominant performance that immediately after the win, racing officials received an extraordinary 20 formal claims for the young horse, a clear sign of how impressed industry insiders were with the performance.

If the opening race brought a veteran trainer his long-awaited win, it was young apprentice jockey Tajay Suckoo who delivered the day’s most remarkable and rare quirk of racing fate. Suckoo not notched two victories on the same 10-race card – he won aboard two horses that share a stunning set of coincidences. His first win came on Native Alliance, conditioned by trainer Paul Swaby, followed by a second win on Native Flyer, trained by Steven Todd. What makes the pair of wins extraordinary goes far beyond the matching “Native” prefix in both horses’ names.

Digging into the bloodlines reveals an even rarer connection: both horses are sired by the same stallion, Successful Native. Native Alliance, a five-year-old bay, is out of the dam Water Wave, while Native Flyer hails from dam Polly Flyer. The result is what racing fans are calling a “Native four-timer”: two horses with Native in their names, both from the sire Successful Native, both winning on the same card under the same jockey. This extraordinary confluence of bloodline, naming and timing is an outcome that racing experts note almost never occurs, making Suckoo’s double win one for the Caymanas Park history books.

When the dust settled on the 10th and final race of the day, another legendary milestone was added to the card. The finale went to Awesome Kitty, a three-year-old chestnut filly trained by Winchester McIntosh, with veteran jockey Paul Francis guiding the filly to a determined victory. For Francis, the win marked his fifth victory of the 2026 racing season – but it also reinforced his status as one of the greatest jockeys in Jamaican racing history. With more than 800 career wins to his name, Francis has secured a permanent spot among the sport’s elite in the country. His decades-long career of consistent excellence remains unmatched across Jamaican Thoroughbred racing, capping off an already unforgettable day of competition with a reminder of the sport’s enduring legends.

One of Jamaica’s most anticipated annual thoroughbred racing events, the 10th edition of the $1.1-million Monday Morning Trophy, is set to take center stage tomorrow as the headline attraction of a nine-race program at the iconic Caymanas Park.

The feature race is structured as a Restricted Allowance II contest, open exclusively to native-bred three-year-old horses that have not claimed two career wins to date. A competitive field of eight contenders has been confirmed for the 7-furlong (1,400-meter) sprint, with racing analysts from The Supreme Racing Guide breaking down each runner’s potential to claim the top prize.

First up is Minneha, a three-year-old bay filly sired by Savoy Stomp out of Red Gold. Analysts do not project her to be a competitive factor in tomorrow’s outing.

In contrast, Charming Chaterbox, a three-year-old bay filly by Successful Native out of Morning Glory, turned heads with a stunning debut victory on February 21. She dominated that 5½-furlong contest, crossing the finish line 9¼ lengths ahead of the pack with a fast time of 1:08.3. With expected natural improvement from her first outing, analysts rank her as a serious contender for the trophy.

Third in the field is Darwin, a three-year-old bay colt by Casual Trick out of Cape. The Supreme Racing Guide notes he has not displayed enough form to indicate he is prepared to secure a win in this race.

Fourth is Super David, a three-year-old bay gelding sired by Patton Proud out of Storm Girl. He delivered a similarly dominant performance in his most recent start on May 2, romping to an 8¼-length win over 6½ furlongs with a time of 1:20.2. Analysts say the extra half-furlong for tomorrow’s race should not pose a problem for the colt, who is being pointed toward the 2000 Guineas later in the season. As such, he is widely considered a strong candidate to notch his second consecutive win.

London Spirit, a three-year-old bay colt by Bern Identity out of Bluefield, does not appear to have the top-tier class needed to take home the victory, per analyst assessments.

Sixth in the field is Tia Maria, a three-year-old chestnut filly by Bold Conquest out of Zacapa, who is making her return to the track after a 148-day layoff. Her last race was on December 26, 2025, where she finished seventh in the competitive Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes. Training reports indicate she has posted strong workout times in preparation for her seasonal debut. While there is some question over whether she will need this outing to shake off race rust, analysts agree she has the inherent class and talent to pull off a win.
\nSeventh is Strong Aveenu, a three-year-old bay colt by Aveenu Malcainu out of Ruby Rose. While he claimed a win in his most recent start, analysts do not expect him to repeat that performance in this higher-stakes contest.

Rounding out the field is Fidelity, a three-year-old bay gelding by Bern Identity out of Hush My Darling, who analysts project will be outpaced by the rest of the competitive field. The race is set to run tomorrow as part of Caymanas Park’s full racing card, with fans already anticipating a showdown between the event’s top contenders.

In a sport that has long been dominated by male participants, a small but growing cohort of women is reshaping the landscape of professional horse racing, carving out lasting legacies and challenging long-held industry norms. One of these trailblazing women is Shauna-Kay Hinds, founder and owner of the Jamaica-based O&S Racers syndicate, who notched another milestone in her rising career on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Jamaica’s iconic Caymanas Park.

On that sunny Saturday, Hinds’ 4-year-old and up runner Bob The Builder crossed the finish line first in the day’s second event: a Restricted Allowance III contest open to native-bred horses (non-winners of four races) and imported horses (non-winners of three races) contested over 7 ½ furlongs, or 1,500 meters. Guided by two-time defending champion jockey Raddesh Roman, Bob The Builder outpaced second-place finisher Star Quest, ridden by Robert Halledeen, and third-place runner Thousand Treasures, piloted by Dane Dawkins, winning by three-quarters of a length with a final time of 1:33.4, split into 24.1 seconds for the first quarter, 47.1 for the half, and 1:12.2 for six furlongs.

For Hinds, the victory was far more than a routine trip to the winner’s enclosure. It served as hard-won validation of her growing operation and a critical step forward toward her long-term goal of claiming an owner’s championship title. Speaking immediately after the race with Jamaica Observer’s *The Supreme Racing Guide*, Hinds shared her unbridled excitement. “I am very elated,” she said. “I think there’s some justification in this win in that we had a race earlier and I was really looking forward to him beating certain horses in that race and he met up back with them this time and he did put down a show and I am happy for that.”

Hinds’ entrance into the world of professional horse racing ownership was no random accident. For more than 20 years, she has been immersed in the sport through her husband Oneil, himself a long-time racing owner. “Well, my husband has been in horse racing for over 25 years and, you know, he loves it and naturally I became a part of it as well,” she explained. “It was probably a few years ago that I decided that I wanted my own owner syndicate and so that’s how I got involved.”

What began as casual participation alongside her husband quickly bloomed into a deep, abiding passion. “I love the horses, it’s a joy to visit them at the stables, and being a part of the preparation and everything. I really loved it, this is just icing on the cake,” Hinds said.

Like every thoroughbred owner, Hinds has experienced the full emotional spectrum of the sport: the soaring highs of upset victories and the devastating lows of unexpected loss. She speaks with pride of Bob The Builder’s steady rise through the ranks, but the horse that still stands out as her most beloved is Incredible Jo, a standout runner that passed away before he could fulfill the team’s high hopes for his career. “It has been so much from him [Bob The Builder] coming up but since me owning the horses, I think Incredible Jo was one of the biggest horses and so sad that he passed,” she said. “We had high hopes for him but unfortunately it is all a part of the game but I think he was one of the best horses we had.”

These contrasting highs and lows have done nothing to dim Hinds’ ambition. Currently, her O&S Racers syndicate holds third place in the 2026 Jamaican owners’ championship rankings, with eight total wins across five horses and $5,300,300 in total stakes earnings. The current leader, Carlton Watson, holds 10 wins across nine horses with $11,963,457 in stakes, followed by second-place Oakridge Farms, which has seven wins across five horses and $6,472,450 in stakes earnings.

“I want to be a champion owner, definitely,” Hinds affirmed. “Right now I am third in the owners’ championship, you know, we don’t have the materials to say alright we are the champion owner this year but eventually we will get there one day.”

For Hinds, the path to the top is one that requires patience and intentional strategy. In an industry where a single exceptional horse can redefine an owner’s career, she understands that waiting for the right opportunity is a core part of the process. “We are taking it one day at a time. Sometimes it is not just getting a horse, but it is getting that special one and so we are looking for that special one,” she noted.

On a sunny Saturday, May 16, 2026, the 2024 Horse of the Year and Mouttet Mile champion Funcaandun reaffirmed his status as one of the most formidable thoroughbreds in modern racing, delivering a breathtaking, dominant performance to claim the $1.75-million Seeking My Dream Trophy by a commanding 3½-length margin. The five-year-old American-bred runner now has a highly anticipated berth in the $10-million Diamond Mile, scheduled for July 17, firmly within his reach.

Trained by elite horse trainer Jason DaCosta and ridden by veteran jockey Robert Halledeen, Funcaandun covered the 7½ furlong (1,500-meter) course in a blistering time of 1:30.10, coming within less than a second of Sky Train’s 43-year-old standing track record of 1:29.2 set back on May 7, 1983. The race’s split timings were recorded as 23.2 seconds for the first quarter, 45.4 for the half-mile, 1:11.3 for the six-furlong mark, and 1:24.0 heading into the final furlong.

From the starting gate, Halledeen stuck to the pre-planned race strategy, settling Funcaandun comfortably in third position as front-runners California Crown (ridden by Aaron Chatrie) and Neo Star (ridden by Tajay Suckoo) set an early heated pace down the backstretch. As California Crown attempted to accelerate and extend his lead entering the half-mile turn, Halledeen remained perfectly in control of Funcaandun, biding his time for the optimal moment to strike.

As the field approached the final stretch, Halledeen gave the signal to advance, and Funcaandun responded with immediate, explosive speed. He swept past the leading rivals turning for home and powered away from the pack, leaving his competitors far in his wake. In an extraordinary result for the stables, California Crown held on to secure second place, while Girvano (ridden by Jaheim Anderson) rallied from the back of the field to claim third—completing a full sweep of the top three finishing positions for owner Carlton Watson and trainer DaCosta.

In a post-race interview, DaCosta praised his team and the trio of horses for the perfectly executed race plan. “Everything went exactly as we mapped it out,” he said. “We had California Crown out front setting the pace, and he held on strong to finish second— I couldn’t be prouder of how he performed today. Funcaandun sat right off the pace just as we planned, and Girvano came from behind to take third. It couldn’t have played out better for us.”

Addressing the upcoming Diamond Mile, DaCosta noted, “Once Funcaandun hits the front at the furlong pole, no one is going to catch him. The $10-million Diamond Mile in July is definitely a possibility, but we’ll monitor how he recovers from this race before making a final decision.”

Halledeen echoed his trainer’s comments, explaining that the race instructions were straightforward: hold third behind the two early leaders and wait for the right moment to make a move. “He pulled so effortlessly from the half-mile to the quarter, I barely had to guide him through the turn,” Halledeen said. “When I asked him to go up the straight, it was almost effortless. Even with the hot sun, he handled every step of the 7½ furlongs like the champion he is. People say he’s getting older, turning into what you might call an old man now, but he’s still here competing at the highest level. He proved he’s still the same champion that took Horse of the Year honors back in 2024.”

Following the race, DaCosta posed for photos with Halledeen aboard Funcaandun and Chatrie aboard second-place finisher California Crown. The photograph was captured by photographer Garfield Robinson.

On Wednesday, Jamaican football side Cavalier FC etched its name into the history books of the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League, clinching a spot in a fourth consecutive league final after a dramatic 2-0 extra-time victory over Montego Bay United (MBU) in the second leg of their semi-final tie. The two-time defending champions overturned a 0-1 first-leg deficit to seal a 2-1 aggregate win, adding another landmark achievement to head coach Rudolph Speid’s decorated local coaching career. However, the veteran manager was quick to shift all praise to his young squad, who pulled off an unlikely comeback against all pre-match predictions.

The match’s hero was 18-year-old Kimarly Scott, a Manning Cup title winner with Excelsior High School, who delivered two identical game-changing goals both from corner kicks. His first header in the 54th minute dragged the tie level on aggregate, forcing the contest into extra time. In the opening 15-minute period of additional time, Scott rose above the MBU defense once again to nod home the decisive winner, securing his side’s place in the final.

The result capped off a stunning collective turnaround for Speid’s team. In the first leg, Cavalier was dominated, mustering only a single shot on goal and ceding nearly 70 percent of possession to MBU. Speid, who also serves as interim head coach of Jamaica’s national men’s team the Reggae Boyz, explained that the squad made a deliberate tactical shift to shore up its defense ahead of the play-offs, a choice that ultimately paid dividends.

“Me and captain Jeovanni Laing had quite a few extended discussions about his role in the team and what we needed from him,” Speid told reporters after the match. “Once we reached the play-offs, we made the call to tighten up our defensive line, and you can see the massive improvement that came from that change. We never believed we were out of the tie; we just knew we had to win differently this time. We always focus on finding a way to get a result, and this is the path that worked. Set pieces have been a consistent source of goals for us in the second half of the season, and that form held up for us today.”

Cavalier’s run to the final has been one of the most unlikely stories in this year’s JPL season. After claiming back-to-back league titles in 2022 and 2023, the club underwent a massive transition, losing 19 first-team players including three key Reggae Boyz talents: Richard King, Dwayne Atkinson and Jalmaro Calvin. The side also underperformed in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, crashing out in the group stage as defending champions, and dropped as low as eighth place in the JPL table as recently as February.

The club ultimately rallied to finish sixth in the regular season, its lowest league position since it earned promotion back to the JPL in the 2017/2018 campaign, but few pundits expected the young side to advance past a strong MBU side that topped the regular season table for more than six months. Speid said he’s heard the outside criticism of his coaching and his squad’s chances, but he credits the team’s strong winning mentality and tight team culture for their success.

“People saying I can’t coach isn’t anything new to me,” Speid said. “But when it comes to this club, everyone needs to know we have a never-say-die winning mentality. We pick the right players, players who are willing to fight for this club badge every single day, and that’s what this run is all about. The truth is, we’re a family here. Everyone cares about each other, and we work together through every high and low. We win together and we lose together, we build that winning mentality in training every week, and that’s what got us over the line today.”

In addition to booking a spot in the JPL final, the win also guarantees Cavalier a place in the 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, marking their fourth consecutive appearance in the regional competition – a milestone Speid says the squad targeted specifically after their underperformance last year.

“Getting back to the Caribbean Cup was one of our main goals this season,” he said. “We didn’t perform well last year, we were really disappointed and embarrassed by how we played, so we were desperate to earn our way back this time. This win gets us in automatically, and we’re really grateful for that opportunity.”

Cavalier will now face off against Portmore United in the JPL final this coming Sunday. For MBU, the result brings a disappointing end to their standout regular season, with head coach Xavier Gilbert saying he was caught off guard by his side’s lackluster performance.

“We were a little reckless, and at times naive, out there today, and it’s hard for me to explain how things unfolded the way they did, because this was nothing like our game plan,” Gilbert said. “I just didn’t like the attitude and body language I saw from the team today, I’m not happy at all with how we performed. We tried to push for an equalizer late on, but we just couldn’t get that goal we needed.”

“We just didn’t execute on our chances, and we were nowhere near the level we’ve played at all season. This just wasn’t our team today, we put in a poor performance when it mattered most,” Gilbert added.

MBU will now get a chance to rebound on Sunday, when they face Mount Pleasant Football Academy in the third-place playoff for a spot in the CFU Club Shield.

LONDON, UK – In a series of shock selections that have sent ripples through English football, head coach Thomas Tuchel unveiled his England squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada on Friday, leaving multiple high-profile stars out of his roster for the global tournament.

Among the most eye-catching exclusions are Chelsea creative midfielder Cole Palmer and Manchester City’s Phil Foden, both of whom were pivotal to England’s deep run to the Euro 2024 final this past summer. The pair have been dropped after underwhelming club campaigns this season, a call that has already sparked fierce debate among fans and pundits alike. Also missing from the squad is Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin – who sit among the highest-scoring English players in this season’s Premier League – Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, and Crystal Palace rising star Adam Wharton. Maguire, 33, spoke out publicly after the announcement, saying he was stunned by his omission after a strong domestic season with United, adding he had been confident he would play a key role for the Three Lions at the tournament.

The most unexpected inclusion comes in the form of Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney, who now plies his trade in Saudi Arabia after moving there in 2024. Toney made a positive impression as a substitute at Euro 2024, but has featured for just two minutes of senior international football since his transfer to the Middle East. Another notable selection sees veteran midfielder and former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, now of Brentford, earn his spot ahead of the young Wharton. Tuchel also took a calculated gamble on Manchester City centre-back John Stones, who has barely featured for his club this season after being sidelined by repeated injury issues.

Tasked with ending England’s 58-year drought since their last major international trophy back in 1966, the German manager – who lifted the UEFA Champions League during his tenure at Chelsea, and has previously managed Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich – has openly embraced the high-stakes nature of his controversial selection calls. He admitted that delivering the news to cut players from the squad was an emotionally draining process.

“It was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult. Even through the phone calls, I could feel the raw emotion,” Tuchel told reporters. “I called every player who has been part of our camp at least once. I wanted to show them the appreciation and respect they deserve for everything they’ve given to this team.”

Tuchel explained that his selection process was built on observations from international training camps held across September, October and November, with the final squad balancing promising young talent and battle-hardened veteran experience. For the head coach, tough selection calls are not a weakness, but a necessary step to building a side capable of going all the way to the World Cup title.

“I love the tough decisions because in the end they bring clarity, they bring a certain edge, and that’s exactly what you need to go all the way,” he said. “In the end it all comes down to this: who do we really trust? Who delivered for us? Who helped build our culture, especially from September onwards? Who set the standards, who were the drivers, who made up the leadership group? We relied heavily on that framework, because connection within the squad has to be there.”

England captain Harry Kane, who earned his place in the squad, expressed his excitement ahead of what will be another World Cup campaign for the veteran striker. “I’m extremely proud to be going to another World Cup,” Kane wrote in a social media post. “You never take these moments for granted. This is what you dream of as a kid. Can’t wait to get out there!!”

The Three Lions will kick off their 2026 World Cup Group stage campaign against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, before facing Ghana on June 23 and closing out group play against Panama four days later on June 27.

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) — After 10 years of unprecedented success that redefined the landscape of top-tier English football, Pep Guardiola has formally announced he will step down as head coach of Manchester City at the conclusion of the current season. The announcement came Friday, confirming widespread speculation that first emerged earlier this week.